Uvalde school shooting: New reports from Texas House committee details ‘systemic failures’ and ‘poor decision making’

On July 17, the Texas House Investigative Committee published a report about the failures of authorities in dealing with the massacre at the Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The 77-page-report did not point fingers at specific authority figures, but attributed the the hour-long rampage and delayed response to be a consequence of collective poor decision making.

On May 24, 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos reportedly killed 21 people - a mix of students and members of staff - at Robb Elementary school with a legal assault rifle. As per CNN, Uvalde authorities allegedly waited in the hallway for nearly 45 minutes before they engaged with Ramos and killed him.

The response of officials in stopping the mass shooting has been harshly criticized by the media. This led to the resignation of Pete Arredondo, a councilman and school police chief who was accused of acting too slowly during the course of the attack.

Uvalde officials have also been accused of attempting to suppress surveillance footage capturing the event.

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The response to the Uvalde attack faces official criticism in new Texas House report

The official report, compiled by the chair of representatives Dustin Burrows along with Joe Moody and Eva Guzman, does not identify any single official or authority figure as being responsible for what is considered the lackluster approach to dealing with the threat.

The report reads:

"There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motives. Instead, we found systemic failures and egregious poor decision-making."

It continued:

"We recognize that the impact of this tragedy is felt most profoundly by the people of Uvalde in ways we cannot fully comprehend."

The report acknowledged the criticism levied against the slow response by the cops, stating that despite the hundreds of law enforcement officials at the scene, only a select few had the power to make the decision. It also noted that there was a lack of organization among the officials.

It stated:

"There was an overall lackadaisical approach by law enforcement at the scene. For many, that was because they were given and relied upon inaccurate information. For others, they had enough information to know better."

The document further acknowledged that while several safety measures were in place at Robb Elementary school - as a mass shooting was considered a palpable threat - protocol had not been followed in many cases.

Owing to a lack of keys among teachers, they often left the doors of the classroom open. Further, sketchy wifi connection in some parts of the school delayed lockdown notification, thereby further exposing students to the threat of the gunman.

The report also drew attention to how teachers like Arulfo Reyes - a survivor of the shooting - acknowledged that many of the doors were not locking properly. While many knew that Room 111’s door had a faulty lock, and school district police had specifically warned the teacher about it, no steps had been taken towards fixing it.

It added:

"The problem with locking the door had been reported to school administration, yet no one placed a written work order for a repair."

As per the Gun Violence Archive, the Uvalde shooting is among more than 300 that have occurred in America in 2022.