Police departments in the city and school district of Uvalde, Texas, have stopped cooperating with the state’s investigation into last week’s deadly school shooting, ABC News reported, as local police are being heavily criticized for choosing not to immediately confront the shooter.
Main facts
- The Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District Police Department — a separate agency — are not cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation, ABC reports, citing law enforcement sources.
- They reportedly chose to stop cooperating after a confusing Friday press conference in which Texas DPS Chief Steve McCraw criticized the school district police department for waiting more than an hour during the shooting before enter the classroom where the shooter was.
- The Texas DPS, Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
The context
A shooter killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, making the incident the deadliest shooting at a US school in nearly a decade. On Friday, Steve McCraw revealed that more than an hour had passed between when the shooter entered the school through an unlocked door and when a Border Patrol tactical team finally entered the classroom. class where he had barricaded himself. Steve McCraw said police waited for tactical help because they viewed the shooter as a barricaded suspect rather than an active shooter, a judgment he described as a “bad decision” prompted by the mistaken belief that the children were no longer in danger – although a child who was in the classroom where the shooter was called 911 for help.
The federal Justice Department is also conducting its own after-action review of the Texas shooting, following a request from Uvalde officials, the department announced Sunday.
Article translated from Forbes US – Author: Joe Walsh
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