Sunday’s announcement by the Justice Department was that it would review the law enforcement response in Texas to the school shooting. This unusual federal look back was prompted by questions regarding shifting and sometimes contradictory information provided authorities, which has angered a community already reeling from its grief and shock.
Anthony Coley, a Department spokesperson, stated that the review would be fair and impartial. The findings would then be made public. This announcement was made while President Joe Biden visited Uvalde. He and Jill Biden were there to pay their respects at the memorial for the 19 students and two teachers who were killed at Robb Elementary School.
Coley stated that the review was requested by the mayor to “provide an independent account law enforcement actions and responses that day and to identify lessons learnt and best practices to assist first responders prepare for, and respond to, active shooter events.”
The department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is responsible for the review. It wasn’t immediately clear how the review would take place, whether law enforcement officers could be forced to participate in the review, or when it might be completed.
This type of review is rare. Most after-action reports following a mass shooting are usually compiled by law enforcement agencies in the area or outside groups. Similar reviews were conducted by the Justice Department after 14 victims of a terrorist attack in San Bernardino (California) in 2015 and after the massacre at Pulse Nightclub, Orlando, Florida in which 49 people were killed and 53 others were injured.
After authorities revealed that the school district’s chief of police had instructed more than 12 officers to wait in a school hallway despite numerous 911 calls from teachers and students, frustration and anger grew about the police response. Officials claimed that the suspect was believed to be in a barricade within adjoining classrooms, and that there was no active attack.
This revelation caused more grief, and raised questions about whether officers failed to act faster in stopping the gunman. He was eventually killed by Border Patrol tactical officers.
Biden has not made any public statements about the police response after the shooting.
