The first images emerged showing armed police with rifles and ballistic shields waiting in a school corridor inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde at 12:04 p.m. May 24. Authorities stormed the classroom at 12:50 p.m.
By noon, officers had rifles, a Halligan and at least one ballistic shield — yet made no attempt to enter the classrooms for 50 minutes.
Police waited for a master key to arrive so that the classroom doors could be opened, even though it had not been established that the doors were locked, while tools were also available that could have been used to break them down, the Texas Tribune reported.
School police chief and councilman Peter Arredondo was the on-scene commander for the police response to the shooting, and he has come under intense scrutiny as more details of the response reach the public.
Arredondo was the on-scene commander for the police response to the shooting, and he has come under intense scrutiny as more details of the response reach the public.
Arredondo and other officers responded within three minutes of shooter Salvador Ramos beginning his rampage, but did not breach the door to the pair of classrooms for more than an hour.
They initially claimed the door had been locked and they had to wait for a key, but Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, testified Tuesday that the door had, in fact, been unlocked the entire time.
“Three minutes after the suspect entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract and neutralize the subject,” McCraw said. “The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111, and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”
McCraw went on to describe Arredondo’s response as an “abject failure.”
“The officers had weapons, while the children had none. The officers had body armor, the children had none. The officers had training, the subject had none,” McCraw continued. “One hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds. That’s how long the children waited, and the teachers waited, in Room 111 to be rescued. And while they waited, the on-scene commander waited for radio and rifles. And he waited for shields, and he waited for SWAT. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed.”
The gunman was eventually shot dead by members of the US Border Patrol Tactical Unit.
Ulvade police had an active shooting drill with roleplay less than 3 months before the shooting. here are some of the guidelines described in that training they followed
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.