Police response to Uvalde mass shooting was an 'abject failure,' but other basic school safety measures also failed, Texas official says.
Automatic locking doors and law enforcement radios — things that were supposed to protect children from mass shootings — failed in the Uvalde school massacre, a top Texas official testified Tuesday.
For instance, McCraw said, neither the exterior door nor the classroom doors could be locked from the inside that day, giving the gunman an easy pathway.Shooter Salvador Rodrigo Ramos essentially “walked straight through” the school’s west entrance because an exterior door could be locked only from the outside, McCraw said during his testimony.
Using photos of doors from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw testifies at a Texas Senate hearing at the state capitol on June 21, 2022, in Austin, Texas.The failure of the exterior door as a first line of defense reignited calls from Texas leaders to “harden” schools to prevent shootings.
The doors were “dysfunctional” and “not secure” in that the locking mechanism did not work properly. It is unclear if that was by design or if it was a malfunction. Although the door was unlocked, McGraw said officers stood outside the classroom while waiting for a key to open it. An investigation into the shooting showed that no one on the scene tried to open the door, he said.
While the system did do its job to the extent that it alerted teachers immediately, McCraw said, a more centralized alert system that notified everyone at the same time would have been better.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Police response to Uvalde was ‘an abject failure,’ Texas DPS chief saysThe timeline from the Austin American-Statesman and Texas Tribune, which shows that officers had the resources necessary to intervene earlier to stop the shooting, raises new questions surrounding the response to the worst shooting at an American school in nearly a decade.
Read more »
Texas police commander: Officers could have stopped the gunman in Uvalde school shooting within three minutesThe police commander made the comments while giving testimony during a committee hearing on the deadly school shooting that left two teachers and 19 children dead.
Read more »
Texas hearing live: Official says police had enough officers to stop Uvalde shooter within 3 minutesEnough officers were on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to stop the gunman within three minutes, the Texas public safety chief testified.
Read more »
Texas hearing live: Official says police had enough officers to stop Uvalde shooter within 3 minutesDelays in the law enforcement response have been the focus of federal, state and local investigations of the mass shooting.
Read more »
Uvalde police response an 'abject failure,' Texas public safety chief saysPolice had enough officers on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to stop the gunman 3 minutes after he entered the building, an official testified.
Read more »
Texas top cop: Uvalde police response an 'abject failure'Law enforcement authorities had enough officers on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, the Texas public safety chief testified Tuesday, pronouncing the police response an “abject failure.” Police officers with rifles instead stood and waited in a school hallway for nearly an hour while the gunman carried out the May 24 attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Delays in the law enforcement response have become the focus of federal, state and local investigations.
Read more »