6:32 p.m. ET, July 17, 2022
Uvalde investigative report shows "multiple systemic failures" in mass shooting, lawmakers say
From CNN's Cheri Mossburg
As the gunman was inside, worried parents gathered outside the school along with law enforcement and first responders.
(Pete Luna/Uvalde Leader-News)
“Multiple systemic failures” summarize the findings of the Texas House investigative committee’s report into Uvalde’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, and “lays bare human failures” that “make us confront collapses in our system,” committee members explained.
Following a nearly two-hour meeting with family members, Reps. Dustin Burrows and Joe Moody, along with Justice Eva Guzman spoke with the media to explain their findings.
“You cannot cherry pick one sentence and use it to say everything without reading it all and with context,” he warned, urging people to read the entire 77-page report.
“Several officers in the hallway or in that building knew or should have known there was dying in that classroom and they should have done more acting with urgency,” Burrows said.
A lack of law enforcement leadership both inside and outside of the school were also notable areas of failure in the response to the shooting.
“In hindsight, we can we can say that Robb Elementary was not adequately prepared for the risk of a school shooter,” said Burrows, specifically noting that other schools are believed to have many of the same issues. “This is a wider problem.”
“There were officers in that building, who knew or should have known, more needed to be done,” Burrows said. “And there was also officers who should have seen some of the chaos going on in a least at a minimum, if they didn't take over command or tried to assume command, they shouldn't began asking questions, or offer their support and guidance, and eventually maybe they would have gotten command to have a better response.”
Committee members stopped short of assigning specific blame to responding officers in their report, but made clear in Sunday’s news conference that they believe responding law enforcement should be held accountable.
“If somebody failed to exercise, their training, if somebody knew there were victims in there being killed or dying, and did not do more. I believe those agencies will have to find accountability for those officers,” Burrows said.
Guzman added, “The report says if you're not willing to put the lives of the people you serve those children before you are on in my view, you should find another job."