A report into the Uvalde school shooting in Texas that killed 21 people has found “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making” by those involved in the response.
The committee of state legislators highlighted a lack of leadership and urgency, describing a “lackadaisical approach” by authorities at the scene. Nearly 400 officers rushed to the site, but police waited over an hour to confront the attacker.
The report was published on Sunday, July 17, 2022. It was hand-delivered to victims’ families before being made public. The 18-year-old shooter targeted Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022, killing 19 children and two teachers. The Texas House of Representatives committee believes the nearly 80-page report to be the most complete telling so far of what happened during and after the attack.
It found no single “villain”, other than the attacker, in the course of its investigation. Instead, it concluded that there were multiple failures of responsibility from a number of authorities, including numerous law enforcement agencies and the school itself.
The report heavily criticized the actions of the various agencies on the scene, accusing them of failing to prioritize “saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety”. Despite nearly 400 officers rushing to the school, police waited well over an hour before confronting and killing the attacker – an “unacceptably long period of time” according to the report. A CCTV footage from Uvalde was published by a local newspaper, showing the gunman’s arrival and police waiting 77 minutes to confront him.
