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With Uvalde authorities coming under increasing scrutiny for their slow response time to the attack at Robb Elementary school in the small Texas town, officials have stated that alleged gunman Salvador Ramos entered the building through a door left open by a teacher.
As investigations continue into the Uvalde mass shooting, CBS reported that the gunman was supposedly able to carry out the attack for over 1 hour before officers entered the premises and killed him.
During a press conference, Colonel Steven McCraw of the Texas Department of Public Safety stated that a teacher had left a door open, allowing the gunman to enter the building. Netizens and Uvalde citizens have accused him of attempting to shift the blame from authorities to Robb Elementary school staff.
The response of Uvalde authorites
Speaking at the press conference, McCraw admitted that numerous mistakes were committed by authorities during the shooting, many of which stemmed from misinformation. The officer in charge of neutralizing the situation, Pedro Arredendo, had not realized the gunmen was actively attacking students and teachers as officers waited in the hallways for tactical equipment.
He said:
“The on-scene commander at the time believed that it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject.”
According to CNN, after the Columbine school shooting in 1999, active shooter protocol determines that officers must prioritize neutralizing the shooter as quickly as possible, even before wounded civilians are assisted.
DPS spokesperson Chris Olivarez, however, justified the response of the authorities.
He told CNN:
“At that point, they had the suspect contained inside the classroom. If those officers weren’t there, if they did not maintain their presence, there is a good chance that gunman could have made it to other classrooms to commit more killings.”
As authorities and Uvalde citizens surrounded the school, parents urged the police to allow them inside to save their children, frustrated at what they perceived to be inaction by authorities. The father of one Robb elementary student, Victor Luna, requested the officers to give him tactical gear so he could handle the situation himself.
He told CNN:
“I told one of the officers myself, if they didn’t want to go in there, let me borrow his gun and a vest, and I’ll go in there myself to handle it. And they told me no.”
According to the New York Post, one mother, Angeli Rose Gomez, jumped the fence and entered the premises to save her children. The police handcuffed her for "intervening in an investigation." According to the Salon, several parents claim they were handcuffed and tased while attempting to force the cops into the building.
Uvalde Authorities shift blame towards staff
In light of what has been seen as a lackluster police response, netizens are outraged with McCraw’s comments about how a teacher left the door open.
CNN reported that the unnamed teacher had opened a locked door after seeing the gunman enter the premises. The teacher then went to call 911, leaving the door open. Former Robb Elementary school principal, Ross McGlothlin, told the CNN newsroom that it was unusual for the door to be open.
He said:
“That door is normally locked unless you are leaving to go home on the school bus.”
In a post on the subreddit Public Freakout, many users complained that the police were trying to shift their focus to the issue of school security. Many of the users believe that the Uvalde police responded in a cowardly fashion by not entering the building sooner.
User ThaddeiusJP commented:
“The next mass school shooting is gonna be parents running in themselves.”
Another user, 10-4-man, acknowledged that parents at the Robb Elementary school attack attempted this, but were prevented by the authorities.
“that's if the cops allow the parents to do that. you saw what the cops did in this incident. all hands on tasers and ready to taze the parents. on top of other parents and detaining them. they'll draw their live guns at parents, if those parents show up with their own guns. for some reason they find it easier to draw their guns and act all macho towards regular citizens than the nutjobs that do mass shootings.”
User VinkoBogatajsSkis saw McCraw’s comments about the door as an obvious attempt to divert attention from the failures of Uvalde authorities.
He commented:
“Pathetic coward. Spineless. Revisionist history. Notice his lack of eye-contact, stumbling and stammering over his words, reading from the script, avoidance engagement w/the press/public.”
As more information is released about the response of the authorities, Uvalde authorities have come under more pressure from media and netizens as they are forced to answer for their lack of preparedness. The Robb Elementary massacre marks the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook Massacre in Connecticut.
