The U.S. Justice Department said on May 29 that it will review law enforcement’s response to the Texas elementary school shooting. According to the Associated Press, such scrutiny is rare, and is usually done by local law enforcement or a third party after a mass shooting.
A vicious shooting at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on the 24th killed 19 fourth-graders and two female teachers. Law enforcement officers killed the gunman nearly an hour and a half after he entered the school.
△On May 25, local time, in Uwald, Texas, United States, law enforcement officers were investigating at the scene.
Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said the review will be conducted in a fair, impartial and independent manner and the results of the review will be published.
He said in a statement that the purpose of the review is to produce an independent report on the 24th law enforcement operation to draw lessons and best practices to help first responders better prepare and respond to “active shooter” incidents.
Justice Department officials said the review was made at the request of the mayor of Uvalde and will be done by the Justice Department’s Office of Community Policing.
In this shooting incident, 18-year-old local high school student Salvador Ramos broke into the elementary school with a semi-automatic rifle and shot and killed teachers and students. He was finally shot and killed by a border patrol SWAT. After the shooting, the news released by the police was inconsistent and even contradictory.
The schedule given by the Texas Department of Public Safety on the 27th shows that in the nearly 50 minutes before the gunman was killed, 19 law enforcement officers were on standby in the school corridor. During the period, children in the same classroom as the gunman called for help at least 8 times.
The Texas Department of Public Safety official said the officers on the scene believed that the gunman had been trapped in the classroom and would not cause injuries to teachers and students elsewhere on the campus. “In hindsight, this was the wrong decision.”
As the survivors spoke out and more details of the case were disclosed, the mood of the public turned from sadness to anger, asking why the police did not act in the first place? Could some children be rescued in time if they acted quickly? Who is responsible for this?
U.S. President Joseph Biden and his wife went to Uvaldi on the 29th to condolence to community residents. He met in private with the families of the victims in a church. As he walked out of the church, about 100 people shouted at him: “Do something!” He replied, “We will.” It was his only public statement on the trip.
△On May 25, local time, in Uwald, Texas, the United States, people went to the scene to lay flowers in memory of the victims of the shooting.
Citizen Mackenzie Hinojosa is the cousin of a dead schoolboy. She told The Associated Press that she hoped Biden’s trip “was not just about mourning.” “We wanted change, we wanted action. It happened again and again. Mass shootings happened, it was on the news, people cried. And then it’s gone, Nobody cares. It happens again and again.”
According to media reports, the gunman purchased a gun locally on May 17 and 20, when he was just 18 years old.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, is seeking Congress to advance legislation to improve gun safety. He told ABC’s “This Week” program: “While it’s still far from enough Republican support for congressional gun safety proposals, this time more Republicans are interested in finding a way forward. First time since Dee Hook (the shooting).”
In 2012, a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut killed 20 children and six adults, making it the deadliest elementary school shooting in the United States.