The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas this week.
The probe was opened at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.
The DOJ issued a statement from spokesman Anthony Coley that said:
“At the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, the U.S. Department of Justice will conduct a Critical Incident Review of the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events.
“The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing.
“As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent.
“The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.”
As Slay News previously reported, Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said earlier that the incident commander in charge of the initial response made the “wrong decision” not to breach the classroom.
“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision,” McCraw said.
“It was a wrong decision. There’s no excuse for that.
“But again, I wasn’t there, but I’m just telling you from what we know.
“We believe there should have been an entry as soon as you can.
“When there’s an active shooter, the rules change.
“Forget about me or the officers and stuff like that.
“We take an oath to uphold the law and protect people and anytime something tragic like this, we want to know why it happened, and if we can do better next time.
“There’s a bottom line and call it like it is. It is tragic.”
According to KHOU, this is the updated timeline:
11:27 a.m. – Exterior door at Robb Elementary School propped open by teacher
11:28 a.m. – Ramos crashes into a ditch near the school. A teacher runs to a classroom to retrieve their phone. The exterior door remains propped open. Two people from a nearby funeral home approach Ramos’ crashed truck to try and help, but they see him with a gun and backpack. The two people run back to the funeral home as Ramos began shooting at them. They were not hit.
11:30 a.m. – The first 911 call is received reporting a crash and a man with a gun.
11:31 a.m. – Gunman starts shooting at Robb Elementary School while police officers arrive at the funeral home. A Uvalde CISD patrol officer arrived at the school and drove past the shooter, who was hiding behind a car.
11:32 a.m. – Multiple shots fired at school
11:33 a.m. – Gunman enters school through the propped open door and enters either room 111 or 112 and starts shooting. He fired more than 100 rounds at that time.
11:35 a.m. – Three Uvalde Police officers enter the same door the gunman entered. They were later followed by three more officers and a sheriff’s deputy. Two of the first officers through the door received grazing bullet wounds from bullets fired through the closed door.
11:37 a.m. – More gunfire
11:38 a.m. – More gunfire
11:40 a.m. – More gunfire
11:44 a.m. – More gunfire
11:51 a.m. – Police sergeant and U.S. Border Patrol agents start to arrive.
12:03 p.m. – Agents continue to arrive. As many as 19 law enforcement officers are now in the school hallway.
12:15 p.m. – Border Patrol Tactical Units (BORTAC) arrive along with tactical shields
12:21 p.m. – Gunman fires again and is believed to be at the door. Law enforcement moved down the hallway.
12:50 p.m. – Law enforcement officers breached the door using keys they were able to get from a janitor because both rooms 111 and 112 were locked.
Officers kill the gunman.
