An internal review has begun on the inaction of dozens of police officers who did not intervene when a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.
The massacre of Salvador Ramos at Robb d’Uvalde Elementary School on May 24 was the focus of a conviction report released Sunday, which revealed nearly 400 police officers were sent to the scene.
Despite the huge response in terms of staff, a “lack of focus” and a general sense of “chaos” among all the agencies that attended made it take more than an hour to overthrow Ramos, 18.
Texas State Police have now announced a review, with the report from the Texas House of Representatives reviving the vocal criticism facing authorities for what was one of the worst school shootings in the history of Texas. United States.
Of the 376 officers who responded to the shooting, only two are currently known to be on leave pending investigation of their actions or inaction.
They are Pete Arredondo, the police chief of the Uvalde school district, and Lieutenant Mariano Pargas, a local department officer who was the acting police chief of the city at the time.
State police said the review would examine the actions of all officers who were at the scene “to determine whether there has been any violation of policy, law or doctrine.”
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No timeline has been given on when it will be completed.
Image: An agent stops to get a hand sanitizer, 20 minutes before the gunman is stopped
Colonel Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety (TPDS), previously blamed much of Mr. Arredondo for treating the gunman as a barricaded subject and not as an active shooter.
The new report also says he wasted critical time during the shooting looking for a key in the classroom and not treating the gunman more urgently.
But he also said there were no individual “villains”.
“Apart from the attacker, the committee found no‘ bad ’in the course of its investigation,” he said.
“There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or bad motives. Instead, we have found systemic failures and terribly poor decision-making.”
Read more: “We Knew It Was a Monster” Is America Too Divided to Address the Weapons Problem?
Image: Nearly 400 officers attended the school shooting
‘What a shame’
As the police review was announced, a special school board meeting for the families of the killings was held Monday night.
They chanted, “Shame !! Shame!”
Brett Cross, uncle of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, long reprimanded board members for not being held responsible for the massacre.
Asking for the dismissal of the incident commander, Mr Arredondo, he said: “If he is not dismissed tomorrow at noon, I want your resignation and all board members so that neither you nor our children care.”
Superintendent Hal Harrell said the report released over the weekend will help decide Mr. Arredondo’s future.