For weeks now, the nation has been seething, watching in horror as details regarding the police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas come to light.
It didn’t take long for Americans to realize that something was wrong. Mere hours after the tragic event was over, social media users began to document a number of instances of police inaction outside of the school, in which officers not only refused to take action to engage the shooter, but also physically prevented willing bystanders from attempting to save the school’s children.
Now, a new surveillance video from inside the school has emerged, and it is once again infuriating the nation.
Officers were on the scene before the gunman entered the school, as one officer had the suspect in his rifle sights and asked permission to shoot, but the supervisor either didn’t hear the request or didn’t respond in time, allowing the suspect to enter the school, according to a report released by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center.
Regardless, the gunman appeared to fire from inside the classroom at 11:37 at the officers, who retreated back down the hallway.
Ballistic shields arrived at 11:52 a.m. and 12:04 p.m., along with other officers armed with rifles, bulletproof vests, helmets and other tactical gear.
At 12:21 p.m., officers walked down the hallway to position themselves closer to the classroom doorway. At 12:30, an officer can be seen walking over to a hand sanitizer dispenser and disinfecting his hands.
The classroom door was finally breached at 12:50 p.m., 74 minutes after the first officers entered the school.
Officials were incensed, and certainly weren’t mincing their words.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw has cast the blame on Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo for the delayed response.
“Three minutes after the suspect entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract and neutralize the subject,” McCraw told a special Texas senate committee that is investigating the shooting.
“The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111, and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”
There are several still-pending probes of the police response in Uvalde to come, and there is no telling just how troubling any future revelations could be.
