The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center released a report outlining three missed opportunities to potentially prevent the Uvalde school shooter on May 24 from killing 19 students and two teachers.
The report was based on an hour-long incident briefing held on June 1 for ALERRT staff and directed by an investigating officer familiar with the shooting.
The first failed opportunity occurred at 11:27 a.m., when a teacher left the building through the west hall and propped the door with a rock so it would not close behind her.
The teacher did remove the rock and shut the door before the suspect entered; however, after the instructor closed the door, she did not check that it was locked, and the gunman gained access to the building through this unlocked entrance.
Also noted in the report is that the steel-framed external door had a massive inlay of glass that was neither ballistic nor reinforced with a film designed to withstand bullets. This shows that even if the entrance had been locked, the suspect could still have entered the building by shooting out the glass of the door.
The second opportunity mentioned in the report regards the arrival of the first Uvalde CISD officer, who responded to the scene after the gunman crashed his vehicle near the school. At 11:31 a.m., the officer reportedly sped through the parking lot on the west side of the building (near the crash site), across the field, and up the south side of the school. The suspect was in the parking lot at this time, but the officer failed to notice him.
The report posits that the officer might have seen the suspect and been able to engage him before the gunman entered the building if he had driven more slowly or had parked his car at the edge of the school grounds and approached on foot.
As for the third missed opportunity, the suspect was seen carrying a rifle before entering the west hall through the external door, according to a Uvalde PD officer who was on the scene.
The UPD officer was headed to approach the attacker with a rifle in hand, but before shooting, he requested approval from his supervisor. Unable to hear a reply, the UPD officer turned to look for confirmation from his superior. At 11:33 a.m., the suspect had already gone through the west hall entrance when the officer turned around to confront him.
Under Texas law, the policeman had a right to stop the attacker with deadly force. According to Texas Penal Code 9.32, DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON, an individual is justified in using deadly force when they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to prevent the commission of murder (amongst other crimes). Based on the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable officer in this situation would determine that using deadly force was necessary, the report states.
“If any of these three key issues had worked out differently, they could have stopped the tragedy that followed,” the document concludes.
It is unclear if anyone will be charged with criminal negligence for the failures at Robb Elementry that day.
To view the report, click here and navigate to page 13.