Washington, D.C. – In a scathing report released on Thursday, the Justice Department highlighted a series of critical shortcomings in the law enforcement response to the tragic mass shooting that unfolded at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022. The incident left 19 children and two teachers dead, with nearly three dozen elementary school students and educators trapped inside a classroom for over an hour.
Commissioned at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, the “critical incident review” conducted by the Justice Department aimed to provide an independent assessment of the law enforcement response and offer insights for improving future active shooter interventions.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, addressing the media from Uvalde, expressed grave concerns about the identified failures. “A series of major failures — failures in leadership, tactics, communications, training, and preparedness — were made by law enforcement and others responding to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary,” Garland stated during a news conference.
The 575-page review emphasized “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training,” contributing to breakdowns during all phases of the response. One of the key findings was that law enforcement, including officers from the school district and Uvalde Police Department, did not treat the incident as an active shooter situation, leading to critical delays.
President Biden, reacting to the report, announced collaborative efforts between the White House, the Justice Department, and the Department of Education to implement policy changes aimed at ensuring a more effective response to such incidents in the future. The President also reiterated his call for Congress to enact measures such as universal background checks, a nationwide red-flag law, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
The report highlighted the lack of urgency in entering the classrooms at Robb Elementary School, with responding officers mistakenly believing that the gunman had been neutralized. Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was fired in the aftermath of the incident, was identified as the “de-facto on scene commander” who discarded radios upon arrival.
Chaos and confusion prevailed in the aftermath of the shooting, as revealed by the Justice Department’s examination. Students with injuries were not promptly provided medical attention, and families received inaccurate information about their loved ones.
Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, stressed the importance of facing the truth about the failure of the law enforcement response. “It is hard to look at the truth that the law enforcement response on May 24 was an unimaginable failure and that a lack of action by adults failed to protect children and their teachers,” Gupta remarked.
This examination by the Justice Department echoes previous reports, including one released by Texas lawmakers in July 2022, which found that responding officers failed to adhere to their active shooter training. The incident was captured on video, revealing a delayed response by law enforcement on the scene.
The Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing conducted the review, similar to examinations carried out after mass shootings in San Bernardino in 2015 and the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando in 2016. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive reforms in law enforcement response protocols to prevent future tragedies.
Steven McCraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, acknowledged the gravity of the situation, admitting that the decision to delay confronting the gunman was wrong. “Of course, it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision,” McCraw stated at a news conference in May 2022.