UVALDE, Texas (Washington Insider Magazine) – The Department Of Justice has declared that it will investigate law enforcement’s reaction to the shooting incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 students and 2 teachers.
The US Justice department will launch a Critical Incident Assessment of the law enforcement agencies response to the shooting incident in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, at the behest of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, according to DOJ spokesperson Anthony Coley.
Someone should be chosen in the coming days.
Personnel with law enforcement skills and on-the-ground expertise with mass killing events from outside the Justice Department have usually made up the committee that conducts inquiries into such situations.
Following shooting incidents in San Bernardino, California, in December 2015, and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June 2016, the agency performed after-action evaluations.
The manner Texas government and law officials reacted to the massacre has drawn a lot of criticism.
The shooting, which was America’s bloodiest school shooting incident since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, was followed by different government explanations of what happened. The delay in responding to the mass murderer has exacerbated parents’ outrage, with some claiming that a quicker intervention could have protected children’s lives.
According to CNN, the approach by enforcement agencies in Uvalde went against widely taught active shooter procedure, which was devised following the Columbine school massacre in 1999 and calls for stopping the shooter as soon as possible while avoiding treating the injured. While the shooter was inside neighboring classrooms, a squad of 19 law enforcement officials waited for room keys and combat gear outside the classrooms for around 50 minutes.
Governor Greg Abbott of Texas stated Friday that he wants a complete explanation of what unfolded during the shooting incident, claiming that he was first “misled” about some facts he was provided by law enforcement officers overseeing the investigation.
According to Conley, the DOJ spokesperson, the goal of the Justice Department investigation is to offer an impartial account of law enforcement reactions on that day, as well as to classify actionable insights to help first emergency personnel prepare for and react to active shooter situations.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited a memorial to the 21 dead outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on the same day the DOJ made its announcement. During their trip to Texas, the President and First Lady visited with family members of the child victims as well as first responders.
