Questions over the Uvalde Police Department’s response to a school shooting carried out on Tuesday continue to rage. Multiple reports have painted a disturbing picture of both incompetence and egregious decision-making, with over a dozen officers standing by while the shooter killed 19 children. Perhaps even worse, after a tactical team from the Border Patrol arrived, they were also told to stand down before eventually disobeying the order and neutralizing the threat.
For their part, Texas DPS gave a presser that attempted to gloss over the failings, refusing to answer basic questions about what transpired.
Now, unearthed documents are showing how protocols were violated in shocking ways, with the police response directly contradicting the expectations they were given just months prior in regards to an active shooter situation.
The instructions to officers aren’t vague. They directly say that the first priority is to confront the killer immediately, neutralize them, and then render aid. Nowhere does it say to hang back for an hour waiting on a tactical team before then preventing said tactical team from entering. Further, it notes that while not waiting for backup, even a single officer is expected to do his duty. This backs up what I’ve said in my prior critiques. Namely, in an active shooter situation, especially at a school with children, you play until the whistle and let the chips fall. If that results in an officer being killed, so be it. That’s the job, and that’s the expectation, not just from me, but from the Uvalde PD’s own stated protocols.
It gets worse, though. To those who might suggest that the fear of getting shot made it justifiable for the police to retreat and let the massacre continue, the documents specifically say that someone with such an attitude should find another line of work.
The officers who stood by for over an hour while having a huge numerical advantage over the shooter deserve to be fully investigated, and unless some completely unknown factor is raised, and I couldn’t imagine what that would be, they should lose their badges. Trust in our institutions, especially law enforcement (from the police to the DOJ), has collapsed in this country. The only way to regain some of it is for there to be accountability.
I’m not just talking about police leadership either. As those Border Patrol agents showed, at some point, you have to do the right thing. Hiding behind orders isn’t enough. The rank and file had the ability to take that shooter out, saving lives, and they chose not to for whatever reason. That can’t be allowed to slide.