Report Finds ‘Systemic Failure’ In Law Enforcement Response to Robb Elementary
An 80 page bipartisan report was released today detailing the events that
took place before, during, and after the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022.
As the Associated Press reported, 376 law enforcement officials arrived at Robb Elementary school before and during the incident, in which a lone 18 year old gunman killed 21 people, including 19 students and 2 teachers, and wounded 17 others.
The 80 page interim report, compiled by a bipartisan 3 panel team from the Texas House of Representatives, details ‘systemic failures’, but did not place direct blame for how the events unfolded:
Other than the attacker, the Committee did not find any “villains” in the course of its investigation. There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregious poor decision making. We recognize that that the impact of this tragedy is felt most profoundly by the people of Uvalde in ways we cannot fully comprehend.
The reports detailed issues at many levels, including:
- Lax security protocols on the school campus including unlocked doors
- Relaxed vigilance due to a rise in security lockdowns as a result of “bailout” warnings (Where undocumented immigrants “bail out” of moving cars when detected by law enforcement)
- A lack of a centralized command structure upon activation of the lockdown alert after shots were fired by the attacker
One specific detail in the report describes how the door that leads to Room 111 at Robb Elementary (The room the attacker first entered) had issues being locked from the inside. This contradicts law enforcement statements that they needed to wait for a key to open the door to subdue the attacker, as the door was probably not locked. Recently released security footage shows the attacker opening the door without any struggle.
Public criticism and condemnation regarding the law enforcement response has been broad and scathing. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) police chief Pete Arredondo, who appears prominently in the report, has been placed on administrative leave. He has also resigned his position as a Uvalde City Council member, a post he was elected to on May 7, 2022.