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since the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, much of the blame for law enforcement’s decision to wait more than an hour to confront the gunman has centered on the former chief of the school district’s small police force.
But a Washington Post investigation has found that the costly delay was also driven by the inaction of an array of senior and supervising law enforcement officers who remain on the job and had direct knowledge a shooting was taking place inside classrooms but failed to swiftly stop the gunman.
The Post’s review of dozens of hours of body camera videos, post-shooting interviews with officers, audio from dispatch communications and law enforcement licensing records identified at least seven officers who stalled even as evidence mounted that children were still in danger. Some were the first to arrive, while others were called in for their expertise. All are still employed by the same agencies they worked for that day. One was commended for his actions that day.
nearly one year after the slaying of 19 students and two teachers at elementary school in uvalde, Texas.
victims family and survivors have not seen the kind of justice and accountability they hoped for.
families live alongside the responding officers who have faced no consequences , despite playing crucial roles in the disastrous police response.
nearly 400 officers responded that day , but t only a small fraction have been fired or suspended.
much of the attention has been focused on pete arredondo,the former chief of the Uvalde high school police department.
he was fired from his job and has repeatedly singled out as the primary culprit in the failed response Arredondo has denied taking on the role of incident commander that day
the washington post conducted a mounths long investigation
to reveal that several other senior
or supervising officers, not just arredondo , played integral roles in the faulures that day.
the post indentified at least seven officers who knew there was shooting in classrooms.
some were the first to arrive on the scene . others were specifically upon to intervene.
the investigation examines the role each of these officers played in the deadly delay
all remain on the force.
through the review of post action interviews
and dozens of hours of body camera footage.
washington post interviewed law enforcement, experts , read multiple active shooter training policies , and training policy and pbtained exclusive licensing and training records.
the minute by minute account shows how this officers violated decades old police protocols to immediately stop an active shooter.
may 24,2022, at 11:28 a.m .Uvalde Independent school district officer responds to a call about a traffic accident involving a man with a gun near Robb Elementery .
at 11:31 ,video recorded by the funeral home across from Robb captures the officer driving towards the school a minute after the shooter walks onto campus.
the first burst goes off at 11:32 a .m.
while the guman walks toward the school west entrance.
uvalde police sergeat daniel coronado is one of the first four officers to respond to Robb.
he parks near the school and takes cover from the sound of gunfire outside.
uvalde police policy states that the idelly the first 2 to 5 officers should form a team to enter the building and quote” stop the violence.”
at least three officesrs ,coronado and two others from uvalde police departement,are toghether just outside schoolground before the shooter enters the building at 11:33
in the post’s review of dozens hours of video and radio communication
communication from the day . no one is heard explicity taking command
the gunman enters the building
and fires into classrooms 111 and classroom 112.
outside the school coronado thinking that the shooter was trying to escape police by running through the school building tries to intercept him on the other side of campus.
after parking his vehicle on the east end of the school ,but seeing no sign of the shooter there, coronado runs back to the to the west side.
in front of coronado , is pete arredondo ,school district chief at the time .
inside roomms 111 and 112 gunman continues to fire
coronado enters the hallway in front of cronoado are two other officers.
supervisors , arredondo
and uvalde police sergeant donald page.
the officers take up position with their guns drawn.
martinez . pages and canales closest to the rooms.the shooter fires several times in the span of a minute.
martinez andcanales are injured by fragments of building material.
for more than two decades officers have been trained not towait to stop an active shooter, according to police protocols
but even if they wanted to wait for SWAT, Canales ,the leader of the SWAT team was already on the scene . along with coronado and martines hwo’s both had SWAT training. it is unclear if canales heard the SWAT request.
as a call for SWAT is made canales walks out of the hallway and talks to sergeant juan maldonado from the Texas department of public safety.
maldonado ,the first state police officer disciplined after the massacre, was given the option to resigne.
how ever .records obtained by the post show he started at the zavala county sheriff’s office part time in april.
inside martinez approches the classrooms two more times
11:38 a.m.
the shooter fires again.
shortly after canales asks for help over the phone outside.
canales goes back into the school
martinez attempts to reach the the classroom one more time.
no one else follows martinez. he eventually retreats.
but they hadn’t the tools to get in.
martinez is pressed by investigators to specify which tools officers needed. but he does not provide examples
he does not attempt to approach the classrooms again.
in page’s post action interview, he said he told arredondo they needed rifle rated shields which provide meaningsful protection against AR 15.
that’s the only way they’re going to even make it to that door.
page told the investigators that he suspected there were children in room 111 and 112
but he did not attempt to go to the classcroom
because the officers positions were what he called a fatal funnel or a doorway where officers can be easily ambushed.
according to experts , officers are tought to stay out of the fatal funnel in most circumstances.but during an active shooter situation , training instructs officers to stop the threat , placing their safety
second, training also states first responders should not approach with reckless aboandon for safety.
nearly 4 minutes after coronado runs from gunshots in the hallway he announces over the radio that the shooter is barricaded.
he is ther first to radio this message, according to a review of a body camera footage and available audio.
the difference in response between an active shooter and a barricaded one is whether the police immediatelly stp the suspect or wait for backup according to experts.
an active shooter situation, an officer assumesthe suspect’s intent is to kill while a barricaded shooter is contained and not actively presenting a threat . a barricaded subject could become an active shooter if they opened fire.
uvalde school training states that time is number one enemy during an actvie shooter response.
coronado tells investigators that he called it a barricaded subject.because hhe didn’t see any visible injuries
but he had heard active shooting nearly 4 minutes before. he described the suspect as barricaded,
texas departement of public safety radio communication showed message of a barricade subject .over and over again at least ten different times reviewed of available audio.
this narritive was so widespread that anxious parents waiting at the school started hearing it.
more than ten minutes after the first officer arrived at the scene and no one have radioed that they have command.
” it was ,if someone had a friggin’idea, we went with it.”
– page.
coronado asks Uvalde police dispatcher for equopment and backup.
the non -lethal munitions Uvalde police brought would never be used to confront the shooter.
coronado’s body camera picks up an officer confirming with school administrators that students that are likely inside the room with the shooter.
corndo is now aware that officer ruben ruiz’s wife and her students, are likely inside the classroom where the shooter is located.
” you know what i mean? it doesnt cross yourmind , i thik att hat moment i still was thinking ” ok”, maybe he¨s engaging offficers or he’s kist shootingto get away”
-coronado.
uvalde county constable johnny field is an elected official with extensive traiing experience and according to arredondo¨s post action interview ,was a a former SWAT member.
field arrives on the norths side of the hallway around 11.41, according to the body camera footage and gets on the phone with arrendondo , he told investigators.
“we’re trying to make sure all thechildren are out. can you verify that all children are out on that end?” so yes ” hung up.
-constble johnny field.
waiting to clear students from the classrooms surrounding 111 and 112 was one of the reason officers gave for not engaging the shooter immediately
but avila and her students aren’t evacuated from her classrum for over 40 minutes.
they listen to footstepls outside the claassroom door ,waiting for
someone to say “we’re here to help”
at one point , the footsteps belong to martinez and coronado.
the shooter fires off a single shot.
eduardo canales, martinez and field are inside and within earshot of the round , rhey do not make any attempt to engage the shooter.
11 minutes have past since a gunman entered the school at least ten officers are in the hallways and more tha nfive law enforcement agencies are on scene. according to the post’scount , using available footage.
four minutes later , inside room 109 , avila makes one last plea for help.
coronado is 50 feet away from avila.marinez , field and canales are doiwn the hallway.
coronado dissuades officers from engaging with the shooter.
” ..and then we’re going to havet to drag your , your know , we’re goingto have to worry about you”
– coronado
at 11 :49,field is heard dnying there’s active shooting taking place despite being in earshot of the gunfire a few minutes prior.
” do you have a stack that’s trained together that¨s ready to go in if needed , you know , in case. ..shots start getting fired again.”
– Field.
no answers from canales is heard on the body camera footage.
at 11 :56 ruben ruiz ,the officer whos wife in room 112 enters the hallway and tellls field his wife is shot
Texas department of public safety ranger, ryan kindall responds to robb aftger a phone call from a chief investigator saying there is an active shooter situation at the school.
he arrives around noon and page tells kindall that it had been at least 10 minutes since the last shot kindall would soon hear the shots.
shortly after kindall arrives he helps coronado and page evacute students from rooms surrounding 111. and 112.
though some officers said they were unsure if there were students in the room with the shooter , they would keep finding scared kids in neighboring classrooms.
around 12: 08 page and other officers begin the search for master key , assuning the gunman had loocked the doors of room 111 and 112.
even though page said that every other classroom door he tried opened.
“and then pulled and then every classroom that we started to go in they were open. so i can only assume that apparently the shooter had locked that door’cause they werre asking for a master key before BORTAC could go in.”
-Page.
12;11 pm
however, investigators now believe that the doors may not have been locked.
officers would spend over 40 minutes looking for a key that was likely not needed.
” … and start, like i said , organizing the response that was coming from outside the building.
– Texas Ranger Ryan Kindell
kindell did not attempt to change the response posture from a barricaded subjectto an active shooter situation .
” or treating the situation , it was a barricaded person , and that’s,that’s what i perceived it to be.”
– kindell
he was served preliminary termination papers in january DPS director steve mcCraw wrote in kindall’s termintion letter that the ranger shouldhave recognized the incident was and remained an active shooter situation.
but exlusiverecords obtained by the post revealed that kindall is still employed with DPS .
an agency spokesman said he is currently suspended with pay four months after receiving his dismissal letter until hie is given a chance to meet with McCraw.
at 12:12 a Uvalde officer’sbody camera picks up radio traffic from a disaptcher saying there is a call from a child in room 112.
field and canales is seen in the body camera
kindall walks by as officers learns that the child is in a room
“children were risking their lives calling the cops several times wondering why they don’t go in and giving them the room number.knowing that if they do get that phone and make that call, there’s a chance that they could get shot .
knowing that andthey did it and the cops still didn’t go in.
and it’s just a complete disgrace. i feel those people should turn in their badges.”
-adam martinez.
paul Guerrero, acting commander for BORTAC , an elit tactical arm of the U.S border patrol who will eventually lead the breach into rooms 111 and 112 enters the school building a minute later.
he said in a post action respond to a barricaded subject.
” they advised me that the dor was locked . as soon as it closes , it’s locked from the inside. you gotta have a key or someone from the inside to open it.”
– Paul Guerrero
Guerrero tells investigators that he did not check the doors if they were locked he also learns early on that there are victims in the classroom.
it would be more than half an hour before Guerrero and his team enter the classroom.
a U.S marshalbrings a rifle shield , according to the Texas house investigative report this is the first rated rifle shield brought inside.
just as the marshal walks inside
12:21 pm
the shooter fires off his last rounds before the breach.
when the shot are fired ,field ,canales , kindell and Guerrero are on the north end of the hallway and martinez and coronado are on the south.
they all visibly react to the sounds. though they heard the shots ,it triggered no change in the response.
jerry mata is outside the funural home.
moments after the rounds stops.
a line of border patrol , DPS. and local officers advised by Guerrero moved down the hallway
with the rifle rated shield.
but Guerreo does not approach the classroom because his team has not arrived and his told by the other officers the doors are locked .
he goes to retrieve atol to force the door open while waiting for his elite BORTAC team .
49 minutes have passed since the gunman entered the school ,at least 30 officers are in the hallway and more than eight law enforcement agencies are on scene. according to the post’s count using available footage..
while gguerrero searches for braching tool, reyes listens to officers trying to repeadly make contact with the shooter.
over the next 30 minutes officers finish evacuaating students and teachers from surrounding classrooms.
avila is evacuated at 12 .26 , nearly an hour after she was shot.
officers continued to test out different keys on doors where the shooter is not located.
as they wait ,officers ask whether there are injured students inside 111 and 112.
Guerrero tiresa breaching tool and decided it would take too long exposing officers to gunfire. he wrote in a statement.he decided to wait even longer for a master key and his team .
Guerrero waits almost 40 minutes in total to confront the shooter,
despite the fact that more than half of his braching teams was already in place during that time ,according to a review of post action interviews and body camera video.
after locating a master key,Guerrero and his team enter the classroom at 12:50
canales , martinez ,coronado,field,page and kindall are not a part of that group.
they found and killed the shooter in the room 11after 77 minutes had passed since the gunman entered the school
officers gave at least 12 orders to hold back and not enter the classrooms.
Guerrero would later begiven an award for valor from the department of homeland security for his actions that day.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
the officers named in this piece did not respond to The Post or declined to comment in multiple requests for interviews ,
citing the still-open investigation and pending lawsuits.
Officers talk outside of Robb Elementary School after fourteen children and one teacher were killed in the shooting on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, TX.
of the nearly 200 responding state and local officers ,around 180 remain in law enforcement, according to records reviewed by The Post.
in all, four were ordered fired ,according to public announcements.
nearly 190 federal officers were also on hand , the majority from the U.S border patrol, but those agencies denied serveral public records requests by the The Post seeking information on their employment status.
HANDOUT PHOTO: This photo provided by
Pete Luna, the general manager of The Uvalde Leader-News, shows the scene at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday May 24, 2022 shortly after a gunman entered the building. (Photo by Pete Luna/Uvalde Leader-New)
Uvalde district attorney christina mitchell busbee and the Texas Rangers are still investigating the shooting response.
the departement of justice is conducting a review.
the Texas departement of public safety opened an investigation into half a dozen officers but officially cleared almost all of them .
a Texas house of representatives investigative report published in july psread blame across every law enforcement agency responding to the attack.
