A new report has been released about this school massacre in Texas that will increase the pain of that broken community.
It was discovered that an Uvalde Police officer could have shot the mass murderer prior to when entering the school's elementary.
The officer sought permission to shoot but didn't receive a go-ahead from the supervisor.
The new report is the most recent in a string of highly controversial findings which are providing an accurate image of the huge mistakes made in the response of the police to the horrific mass shooting.
The report was compiled by the Texas State University's Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training program (ALERRT). The report is a summary of the responses from Uvalde Police Department. The evaluation for this report was compiled with the help of video surveillance at the school, cellphone video, oral statements from the officer who was investigating and Google Maps, per the report, which states that the investigation continues. ALERRT said that it drew information from the most recent information available on June 30.
The gunman, identified as Salvador Rolando Ramos, killed 19 students as well as two educators at Robb Elementary School on the 24th of May.
When he entered into the college, Ramos crashed a truck near the school, and then began firing at the windows. As he was shooting, an officer carrying an assault rifle was able to see Ramos on his radar.
“The officer, who was armed with a gun, asked his supervisor's authorization to shot the man. But, the supervisor didn't hear or replied to the request too late. The officer waited to receive confirmation from the supervisor. When he returned to speak to him, it was discovered that he was found to have been in the west hallway for a long time,” the report stated.
The ALERRT report also mentioned the Texas penal code. The report also referenced an article in the Texas penal code which says officers may employ deadly force when they are “immediately necessary to prevent the commission of murder.”
So, the officer could have been permitted to fire at the suspect, however, according to the report, the officer might have believed that he was required to get permission from an authority figure.
This wasn't the only flaw discovered within the ALERRT report about Uvalde police response. Another opportunity was missed to stop the gunman before when he entered the school. According to the report, among the initial officers—a Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police officer drove through the parking lot at the school “at a high rate of speed” but didn't spot the suspect as he was still inside the lot.
In addition, the report revealed the police personnel “lost momentum” waiting for more equipment and firepower to be delivered to the school. The report also revealed that the officers didn't think about other alternatives to break into the space. They could have broken through the sheetrock, or through windows.
This could be the most intense section of the report “While we do not have definitive information at this point, it is possible that some of the people who died during this event could have been saved.”
This report is very comparable to one that was submitted in the past by Steve McCraw, the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety. He testified to the Texas Senate committee on June 21.
McCraw discovered that “police led by on-scene commander Uvalde school district chief of police Pete Arredondo, could—and should—have confronted the shooter much sooner, which could have saved countless lives.”
Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez and Attorney George E. Hyde have not replied to inquiries from Uvallde media regarding this story.
The tragedy continues to get more and more dire for those who have endured so long.
