The Justice Department released a damning report on the police response to the May 2022 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Thursday.
The report states that police should have immediately confronted the gunman, but failed to do so. The report specifically mentions Pete Arredondo, the former Uvalde School District police chief, saying he improperly treated the active shooter scenario as a barricaded subject situation.
"The most significant failure was that responding officers should have immediately recognized the incident as an active shooter situation, using the resources and equipment that were sufficient to push forward immediately and continuously toward the threat until entry was made into classrooms 111/112 and the threat was eliminated," the report says.
"Several of the first officers on scene initially acted consistent with generally accepted practices to try to engage the subject, and they moved quickly towards classrooms 111/112 within minutes of arriving. But once they retreated after being met with gunfire, the law enforcement responders, including UCISD PD Chief Pete Arredondo – who we conclude was the de facto on-scene incident commander – began treating the incident as a barricaded subject scenario and not as an active shooter situation," it continues.
Officers turned back from entering the classroom after suffering "graze wounds from shrapnel" despite hearing a "barrage of gunfire erupting" inside of the classrooms.
The report goes on to say that police improperly waited for SWAT teams before gaining entry to the two classrooms. They also waited on requests for classroom keys and breaching equipment that may not have been necessary to enter the rooms.
Ultimately, the shooter was not killed until approximately 77 minutes after police first arrived, the report says.
IOWA PARENTS URGE IMPROVED SAFETY MEASURES IN DISTRICT AFTER FATAL SCHOOL SHOOTING
"Since the tragic shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, a fundamental precept in active shooter response and the generally accepted practice is that the first priority must be to immediately neutralize the subject; everything else, including officer safety, is subordinate to that objective," the report states.
The shooter, Salvador Ramos, killed 19 children and two teachers before police neutralized him.
The DOJ's extensive report mirrors the findings from another inquiry by the Texas House of Representatives Investigative Committee, which published its findings in 2022.
The Texas investigation also found that school administrators adopted a "regrettable culture of noncompliance" with safety and security measures. It said the school "tacitly condoned" unsafe practices by knowingly violating or allowing others to violate rules that required doors to be closed and locked.
More details from the DOJ investigation are expected to be released later Thursday.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
