Several law enforcement officers who responded to the mass shooting at a Uvalde school in May 2022 have been ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the botched response.
Multiple officers who were on the scene at Robb Elementary School on May 24 where 19 children were massacred have been subpoenaed for in-person testimony that may result in criminal charges.
A bombshell Justice Department report into the shooting released earlier this year found that Uvalde police officers stood outside a classroom for 77 minutes while schoolchildren screamed for ‘help’ after a gunman opened fire.
Officers testimony is set to begin at the Uvalde County Courthouse next week and marks an acceleration into the 21-month criminal investigation.
Members of the Texas Department of Public Safety and local police have been called upon to testify, with grand jurors potentially given the chance to question the officers themselves.
After gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, opened fire inside Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, Uvalde Police came under scrutiny after waiting for 77 minutes as the massacre erupted
The victims of the Uvalde school shooting on May 24, 2022
After gunman Salvador Ramos, 18, burst into Robb Elementary School on the morning of May 24, 2022, the report found that the ‘single most critical tactical failure’ was that police failed to view the event as ‘active.’
From there, it took 77 minutes before the 376 law enforcement officers were able to kill Ramos, only after he fatally shot 21 people across several classrooms.
‘The response to the May 24, 2022, mass casualty incident at Robb Elementary School was a failure,’ the Justice Department report concluded.
Among the tragic conclusions brought by Thursday’s report was Garland’s admission that the lives of the young victims could have been saved had protocols been followed properly – a concession the parents say was a long time coming.
One of the two Uvalde teachers who were killed during the mass shooting in 2022 was left to die on a walkway – while crying bullet-stricken students were hurried onto buses before receiving medical aid, the report also found.
Victims – both adults and children – were frantically dragged out of bloody classrooms with no stretchers readily available to get them into ambulances.
One teacher was left to die on the walkway, before being covered and moved into an ambulance. Another dead body, pulled out from the school, was placed outside and then left unattended – while a group of police huddled together nearby.
Ambulances took deceased victims to hospital by mistake, others did not secure critically-injured patients on to stretchers properly, and vital blood supplies that were airlifted to the scene went unused – despite being needed.
The furious relatives of the victims called on their DA Christina Mitchell Busbee (pictured) to bring criminal charges, questioning: ‘What more does she need?’
Evadulia Orta, left, and Felicia Martinez, right, and other other family members of shooting victims hold back tears as they hear the scathing report
Dora Mendoza, right, is hugged by a friend as she leaves a meeting where Attorney General Merrick Garland shared a report on the findings of an investigation into the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary School
Police officers walk past a memorial for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, 2022
Injured victims were left stretchered on sidewalks outside Robb Elementary because different medical crews had abruptly taken and commandeered their ambulances.
Kids – struck and grazed by bullets during the onslaught inside their school – were ushered into buses heading to the civic center without being seen by medical staff.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement: ‘The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better. The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 – and the response by officials in the hours and days after – was a failure that should not have happened.’
The Justice Department collected more than 14,100 items from the scene for for analysis. This included hours of video, photos, 260 interviews, multiple visits to Uvalde, as well as police policies, procedures, and training.
Federal officials said that their review of the mass shooting was made public ‘to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses; identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events; and provide a roadmap for community safety and engagement before, during, and after such incidents.’
KEY CHARACTERS AND THEIR FAILINGS
Pictured: Shooter Salvador Ramos
Police Chief Pete Arredondo, Uvalde Police Chief Mariano Pargas and Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco were all singled out in the report.
They were on the scene within minutes, but none took command of the situation.
Arredondo – who was the de facto on-scene commander – was slammed in the federal report for intentionally not trying to save people who were alive and trapped in the classroom with the shooter.
The report said that he: ‘Acknowledged the likelihood that there were victims and deceased in the room with the shooter and intentionally prioritized the evacuations over immediate breach and entry into the room.
‘This is counter to active shooter response principles, which state the priority is to address and eliminate the threat.’
The federal report also details well-documented communication issues that officials say hindered the response. This included Arredondo discarding his radios on arrival because he thought they were unnecessary.
Although Arredondo tried to communicate by phone with officers elsewhere in the school hallway, he told them not to enter the classrooms ‘because he appeared to determine that other victims should first be removed from nearby classrooms to prevent further injury.’
The scathing report summarized: ‘Chief Arredondo had the necessary authority, training, and tools.
‘He did not provide appropriate leadership, command, and control, including not establishing an incident command structure nor directing entry into classrooms 111 and 112.’
Sheriff Nolasco was singled out by the DOJ with critical rigor.
He had vital information about the gunman he did not share, the report found.
The DOJ wrote: ‘Sheriff Nolasco did not seek out or establish a command post, establish unified command, share the intelligence he learned from (the shooter’s) relatives, nor did he assign an intelligence officer to gather intelligence on the subject.
‘At one point, Sheriff Nolasco and UPD Acting Chief Pargas were within 10-15 feet of each other outside the exterior door of the northwest hallway.
‘However, they were not coordinating with one another and continued to act independently.
‘Without proper command and control, a game warden and constable were taking on roles traditionally performed by an incident commander.
‘On the day of the incident, no leader effectively questioned the decisions and lack of urgency of UCISD PD Chief Arredondo and UPD Acting Chief Pargas toward entering classrooms 111/112.’
Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo was singled out in the new DOJ report for his catastrophic lack of leadership during the mass shooting
City police Lt. Mariano Pargas was singled out in the new DOJ report for his catastrophic lack of leadership during the mass shooting
Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco, left, is comforted by Ted Cruz. Nolasco was singled out for his catastrophic lack of leadership during the mass shooting
