The Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas was a tragedy unto itself, obviously, but a second wave of sorrow and heartbreak has arrived on its heels, and it calls into question everything that Americans thought they knew about policing in this country.
On the day that a crazed gunman terrorized the school, killing 19 children and 2 teachers, police were seen outside of the building, refusing to enter. Parents and bystanders first pleaded with officers to take action, and then attempted to render help themselves…before being restrained by those same officers.
This week, a new report on the police response to the shooting was released, and it brings with it another round of heartbreak.
A Texas police officer had the Uvalde gunman in his sights but never fired a shot, believing — perhaps incorrectly — that he needed permission to fire, a new study of the mass killing revealed Wednesday.
The report from Texas State University, reviewing the law enforcement response to the deadly attack at Robb Elementary School, raised the troubling question of whether Salvador Rolando Ramos could have been stopped before he even entered the campus where he would kill 19 children and two teachers on May 24.
The report’s account of the situation was bleak.
Before Ramos entered the school at 11:33 a.m., “a Uvalde Police Officer on scene at the crash site observed the suspect carrying a rifle outside the west hall entry.”
“The officer, armed with a rifle, asked his supervisor for permission to shoot the suspect,” the report continued. “However, the supervisor either did not hear or responded too late. The officer turned to get confirmation from his supervisor and when he turned back to address the suspect, he had entered the west hallway unabated.”
The report cites Texas Penal Code Section 9.32, which allows officers to shoot would-be attackers if there’s reasonable belief that “deadly force was immediately necessary to prevent the commission of murder,” the report said.
The news comes after it was revealed that the classroom in which Ramos was committing his heinous act may not have even been locked, as police stood outside unwilling to breach the door.
