The Justice Department announced Sunday that it will conduct a review of the critical incident of law enforcement’s response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The review, which is being carried out at the request of the mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, is tasked with providing “an independent account of the actions and responses of law enforcement that day, and d “Identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said in a statement.
McLaughlin in a statement Sunday night thanked the Justice Department for accepting his request, adding, “I trust the assessment will be fair, transparent and independent.”
Texas authorities spent three days providing often contradictory and incomplete information about the 90 minutes that elapsed between the time the gunman entered the school and the time the U.S. Border Patrol agents unlocked the gate. from the classroom and they killed him. Local, state, and federal law enforcement officers responded to Uvalde’s shooting.
Nearly 20 officers were standing in the hallway outside the classrooms during the robbery at Robb Elementary School for more than 45 minutes before officers used a master key to open a door and confront the gunman. said Texas Department of Homeland Security director Steven McCraw at a news conference. Friday.
Children flee the shooting scene at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. Pete Luna / Uvalde Leader-News
The on-site commander “was convinced at the time that there was no further threat to the children and that the issue was barricaded and that they had time to organize” to enter the classroom, McCraw said.
“Of course it wasn’t the right decision. It was the wrong decision,” McCraw told reporters.
Earlier Sunday, Rep. Val Demings, who was the Orlando police chief before she was elected to Congress, favored a federal investigation to determine what went wrong with Uvalde’s response.
“Because there were so many agencies involved on the ground, it’s important that we know what role each agency played,” said Margaret Brennan, moderator of Face the Nation. “It’s important that we know, there was some discussion about going in, those 19 offices that tell us they were in the hallway, was there any discussion between other commanders from other departments? We need to know the answers to these questions. And I think a federal investigation is certainly in order. “
Uvalde County Commissioner Ronald Garza welcomed the idea of a federal investigation when asked hours before it was announced. “I think we need to learn more. As tragic as it may sound, we need to learn from that, you know, and parents deserve answers,” he told Brennan on Face the Nation.
Once the Department of Justice completes the review, it will publish a report with its findings.
Jeff Pegues contributed to this report.
School shooting in Uvalde, Texas
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