Justice Department Uvalde report expected to be released Thursday
- Officers waited 77 minutes before fatally shooting the gunman
- 19 elementary school students and two teachers died
- There have been multiple investigations into law enforcement failures
Abel Lopez, right, father of Xavier Lopez who was killed in the shootings in Uvalde, Texas, holds a banner honoring the victims after a Texas House committee voted to take up a bill to limit the age for purchasing AR-15 style weapons in the full House in Austin, Texas, Monday, May 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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(NewsNation) —The Justice Department is expected to release its report on the law enforcement response to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, according to reports.
The school district’s superintendent informed the community the report would be released at a school board meeting Monday.
The DOJ began the investigation not long after the May 2022 shooting, which left 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School dead and 17 others injured. The investigation has focused on the law enforcement response to the shooting, as officers waited 77 minutes before entering the school.
Close to 400 officers responded to the shooting but waited outside while the shooter fired at students and teachers trapped in two fourth-grade classrooms.
At least five officers have been fired, including on-site commander and the school’s police chief Pete Arredondo. Multiple agencies responded to the shooting including the school district police, Uvalde police, state police, sheriff’s deputies, Border Patrol officers, U.S. Marshalls, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and law enforcement from neighboring counties.
Law enforcement agencies began arriving on scene shortly after the gunman was spotted on school grounds with a weapon but did not act to stop the shooter for over an hour. During that time, officers entered the school but not the classrooms where the shootings were taking place, waiting for additional equipment and keys to unlock the door.
Officers prevented anyone from entering, including a mother who drove to the school to try to rescue her children and an officer whose wife, a teacher, was dying inside.
Texas authorities have offered conflicting versions of events, including confusion over who was in charge and when officers knew students were present and in danger. The city of Uvalde has resisted efforts to release police records about the shooting to the public.
There have been multiple investigations into the law enforcement actions as well as the school’s safety procedures and response to reports of an armed person on campus.
The school was permanently closed after the shooting.
