A near-total breakdown in policing protocols hindered the response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022 that left 21 people dead, the Justice Department concluded today after a nearly two-year investigation.
“Lives would have been saved, and people could have survived” if officers had not refused to rapidly confront the killer, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
The department blamed “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training” for a passive law enforcement response that allowed an 18-year-old gunman to remain inside Robb Elementary School for more than an hour before he was confronted and killed.
The most significant failure, investigators concluded, was the decision by local police officials to classify the incident as a barricaded standoff rather than an “active-shooter” scenario, which would have demanded instant and aggressive action.
Most of the officials in charge that day have been fired or have retired.
Persons:
General Merrick Garland
Organizations:
Justice Department, Robb Elementary School
Locations:
Uvalde , Texas