Texas shooting police response 'an abject failure'

The law enforcement response to the Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers was "an abject failure" in which a commander put the lives of officers over those of the children, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw said on Tuesday.

The onsite commander made "terrible decisions" and officers responding to the scene did not have enough training, costing valuable time that may have saved lives, McCraw told lawmakers during a Texas Senate hearing into the May 24 mass shooting.

"There is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we've learned," McCraw said.

Police actions after the gunman entered Robb Elementary School and began shooting have come under close scrutiny, with many parents and relatives expressing deep anger over the response.

Among the delays McCraw detailed was the search for a key to the classroom door where the shooting occurred. McGraw said police waited to enter while they sought a key, despite the fact that the door was not locked and there is no evidence officers tried to see if it was secured.

The Texas DPS, days after the shooting, said as many as 19 officers waited over an hour in a hallway outside classrooms 111 and 112 before a U.S. Border Patrol-led tactical team finally made entry. McCraw reiterated that in the hearing on Tuesday.

"The officers had weapons, the children had none. The officers had body armor, the children had none. The officers had training, the subject had none. One hour, 14 minutes, and eight seconds - that is how long the children waited, and the teachers waited, in Room 111 to be rescued," the DPS director said.

"Three minutes after the subject entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract and neutralize the subject," McCraw added.

"The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111, and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children," the director said in the hearing.

McCraw said the scene commander, Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo, "waited for radio and rifles, and he waited for shields and he waited for SWAT. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed."