- Families angry at acquittal
- Investigator claims “good faith”
- Critiques police response delay
Families of the victims have expressed their anger following the acquittal of police officers in a report regarding the mass shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022.
An independent investigator, Jesse Prado, stated that the officers acted in good faith, contrasting with earlier findings criticizing the tardy response.
“You refer to that as good faith?” “They stood for seventy-seven minutes,” Veronica Mata, whose daughter was slain at the age of ten, remarked.
Former student and assailant Salvador Ramos murdered nineteen students and two educators.
The school massacre on May 24, 2022, was among the deadliest in United States history.
Certain members of the families of the victims reacted angrily to Mr. Prado’s speech.
Several bereaved family members of the victims of the shooting exited the Uvalde city hall in a fit of rage before the conclusion of Mr. Prado’s address.
On Thursday, the findings of the former police detective who was assigned by the city council of Uvalde to investigate the local police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School were presented.
According to him, the police had not engaged in any significant misconduct.
Simultaneously, the investigator reported that the infiltration of the classroom where the assailant was was hindered by delays, inadequate training for live shooter situations, communication issues among the responding officers, and a shortage of specialized equipment.
CNN quoted Ms Mata as saying that police “waited” to enter the building after receiving numerous calls indicating that children were still alive inside.
She continued, “We will stand here and continue to fight for our own because nobody else will do it.”
“Unlock your financial potential with free Webull shares in the UK.”
In prior critical evaluations conducted by various federal agencies in the United States, the Uvalde Police Department officers were found to be deficient in virtually every aspect.
In January, the United States Department of Justice stated in a pointedly critical report that the police response had been beset by disorder and a lack of urgency.
While the assailant opened fire on dozens of individuals in two classrooms, police officers remained in a hallway or outside the school, according to the report.
According to the document, it took police 77 minutes after the initial officers arrived to confront and execute the 18-year-old shooter, even though nearly 400 officers responded to the attack.
This slow response was the primary focus of the report, which stated there were “cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training” and concluded that police failed to recognize an active shooter.
A distinct report published in July 2022 by a Texas House of Representatives commission identified “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision-making” on the part of those responsible for the response.
