The Biden Department of Justice will be launching a formal investigation into the Uvalde police department’s response to a school shooting.
On May 24th an individual walked into a school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 21 people including 19 children. The shooter made numerous threats online leading up to the shooting and the FBI was alerted to his plans to shoot up a local elementary school in the hours prior to the massacre.
As with the shooting in Buffalo, New York, it has been reported that the federal authorities and local authorities were aware of the shooter prior to the shooting.
Media reports about the police response to the shooting have changed since the event occurred and the story continues to evolve.
It is clear at this point that the police did little to nothing to stop the shooting as it went on. After the gunman initially entered the building the police followed him in but soon retreated because the on-scene commander had transitioned the incident from an Active Shooter situation to a Barricaded Subject situation.
Police waited outside and there are reports that they had detained parents who wanted to enter the building. While outside several people were killed inside the building and it was not until the Border Patrol arrived that something was done.
Members of the Border Patrol were at first told to stand down by local authorities but instead ended up going through with the operation. Members of the Border Patrol went into the school, got into the classroom, and killed the gunman. It was revealed later that the gunman had been shooting through the door of the classroom at Border Patrol and managed to hide in a closet prior to their entering the classroom.
Many questions are being raised about the response from local authorities and it is unclear how long the situation would have continued had the Border Patrol not arrived.
WFAA News ran a segment breaking down what was thought to be the police response that you can see here.
