Texas lawmakers conclude that the response from federal, state and local agents was “chaotic and apathetic” to the school shooting that killed 19 children and two adults.
The Texas parliamentary committee investigating the May 24 shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, which left 21 people dead, has released a devastating report, the most complete to date, released in recent hours. in which police action is sharply criticized. It specifically points out that the officers made “terrible” decisions that failed to save the lives of some victims. The document also comes at a time when new images captured of the vest of one of the uniformed men have been released.
According to the report, the law enforcement officers who took part in the operation (376 in total, between local, state and federal) “disrespected their education” and “did not put the lives of innocent victims above their own safety.” He blames everyone, regardless of experience, for poor performance and increased chaos due to “multiple system errors and blatant decisions”.
The criticism focuses mainly on the delay in the response of the police. The gunman, Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the school within three minutes before officers arrived. However, it took them more than an hour to gain access to the classroom where Ramos had barricaded himself with 19 children and two teachers, whom he executed in cold blood. An “unacceptable” delay due to “a lack of command that could have contributed to the loss of life,” the report says.
While it is “probable that most of the victims died immediately after the first shots,” some died while being transported to hospital, and it is “possible” that these victims could have survived had they been rescued more quickly, it adds.
Texas public safety director Steven McCraw had previously called the authorities’ response to the massacre an “absolute failure,” criticizing Uvalde School District police chief Pete Arredondo, who was later suspended.
“He did not take his responsibility as commander” and made analysis errors because he did not have all the information, the parliamentarians estimate in their report. Nor has anyone suggested to replace or help him: “the attitude of all the officers was apathetic” and “the chaotic scene with no one clearly in charge,” he adds.
Criticism mounted after the release of a video showing the gunman’s arrival with an assault rifle, and then the officers’ long wait in a school hallway.
Source: La Verdad
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