The more we learn about the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the more the nation wails and mourns.
This was a case if incompetence from top to bottom, as law enforcement appeared to have failed at every step of the way. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, we saw social media clips of furious, despondent parents pleading with police to enter the school and stop the shooting, as gunshots rang out in the background.
Then there were reports that police who did enter the school were unable to breach the classroom where the carnage was occurring.
Now, that story has taken a sick and twisted turn for the worse.
For 77 minutes, Uvalde police officers stood by as accused gunman Salvador Ramos rampaged through Robb Elementary School, killing 19 students and two teachers. New surveillance footage reportedly shows that those sworn to serve and protect didn’t even bother wiggling the door handle to get into the classroom.
Responding police officers appear to have assumed the doors to classrooms 111 and 112 were locked without actually checking, a source told the San Antonio News-Express Saturday. Instead, they waited around for a master key until, more than an hour later, a Border Patrol tactical team killed the suspect.
And that wasn’t all.
The same source told the News-Express that even without the key, officers had almost immediate access to a crowbar-like tool that should have been able to pry the door open, if it was locked at all.
The news will almost certainly fuel the already angry reaction that America has had to the shooting, and heap more criticism on law enforcement’s unacceptable response.
