State authorities, including the Texas Rangers, are investigating the Uvalde Police Department’s response to the Tuesday school shooting and considering whether officers responded quickly enough, according to a USA Today report.
Reviews of law enforcement’s actions are common after events like mass shootings, but discrepancies between the various accounts of Tuesday’s events could heat up the investigation, sources familiar with the investigation told USA Today. (RELATED: Authorities Say They ‘Contained’ Texas Shooter — In A Classroom Full Of Children)
Officers were present throughout the attack, with many standing in the parking lot during the 30-60 minute period in which the 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers, and they did not breach the classroom until a staff member gave them a key to unlock the classroom door, according to the Associated Press.
Onlookers urged police who were in the parking lot during the shooting to go inside to no avail, and one father suggested he and other bystanders rush the school themselves.
BREAKING: Authorities now confirm they are examining the response of police in Uvalde in the shooting of 19 children amid conflicting witness statements, including what steps they took to stop the gunman. Part of the review will include a timeline based on radio traffic. (1/3)
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) May 26, 2022
“Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” he said, according to the AP. “More could have been done.”
Authorities offered conflicting accounts about whether fire was exchanged between the shooter, Salvador Ramos, and the officer who engaged him on his way into the school, according to The New York Times.
The shooter allegedly exchanged fire with law enforcement both inside and outside the building, and all of the officers were injured, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine said, according to the AP. He said authorities were unsure whether fire had been exchanged in the initial engagement.
It remains unclear precisely when the massacre occurred during the 30-60 minutes the shooter was in the classroom.
The Uvalde Police Department and the local Border Patrol office did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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