Grief Turns To Anger: Police Mistakes In US School Massacre Shock

Updated 5/29/2022 at 5:17 p.m

Grief turns to anger: after the devastating mistakes made by the police in the Uvalde school massacre, criticism grows.
More and more details about the actions of the police are becoming known.
Surviving children now describe how they waited in vain for the police while the 18-year-old gunman shot and killed a total of 21 people.

After the brutal massacre at an elementary school in the US state of Texas, the police are due dramatic omissions heavily in the criticism. According to official information, 19 police officers were already present in the hallway in front of the classroom where the gunman was holed up with teachers and students at an early stage. However, the officers made no attempts to enter the room for more than 45 minutes. Relatives accused the police of saving lives. US President Joe Biden wanted to visit the municipality of Uvalde on Sunday, where grief is increasingly turning to anger.

An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in the small Texas town of Uvalde on Tuesday. He had locked himself in two connected classrooms with students and teachers and fired around with an assault rifle.

What investigators have so far reconstructed on the basis of video recordings, witness statements, police communication and emergency calls is shocking. The shooter entered the elementary school and classroom shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time and began shooting. A few minutes later the first police officers were in front of the classroom. Other officials followed. Just after 12:00 p.m. local time, 19 police officers were stationed in the hallway outside the classroom.

Girl calls the police several times – while officials are in front of the classroom

Around the same time, students from inside the room began dialing 911 police in desperation, officials said. Among them was a student who called several times in a row. In a whisper, she first reported several deaths. In another call, she said a little later that eight to nine students were still alive. Still no help came. 40 minutes after the first call, the girl begged for the police to be called immediately.

Meanwhile, the police outside the door were waiting for reinforcements, as the Texas Public Safety Authority revealed on Friday. The officer responsible was of the opinion that after the first shots were fired, no more children were in danger. Now that’s causing bewilderment. It was not until 12:50 p.m. that emergency services entered the room – with a key that they had obtained from the caretaker – and killed the gunman. More than 75 minutes after he opened fire inside. Meanwhile, the attacker wiped out 21 lives. 17 other people were injured.

According to their own statements, one of the children who called the emergency number is eleven-year-old Miah. She described the terrible scenes that took place in her class to CNN. The shooter came into the room and said “good night” to a teacher and shot the woman. He then shot the other teacher and the children. When the attacker went into the next room, she and a friend were able to get the dead teacher’s phone and called the emergency number. The girl eventually smeared herself with the blood of a dead classmate to pretend to be dead, it was reported CNN. She was not aware that the police were already in the hallway.

Grandfather of dead girl accuses: “You could have saved her”

In view of the new findings, relatives raised serious allegations against the police. “They could have saved some lives,” the Washington Post quoted the grandfather of a student who was killed as saying. “You could have saved her,” he said, looking at his granddaughter. The father of a child who was killed also told CNN that his daughter might still be alive if the police had acted differently. Another student’s mother lamented, “You’ve waited too long.”

Democrat Roland Gutierrez of the Texas Senate also complained that mistakes in the operation could have cost lives. “In the end, everyone here failed,” the Democrat told CNN on Sunday. That also applies to the Texas parliament, which has not enforced stricter gun laws.

Debate about gun laws reignited in the US

The Uvalde killing spree has fueled the debate about tightening gun laws in the United States. Many Republicans have been opposed to stricter regulations for years. Also the republican Ex-President Donald Trump defended himself in an appearance before the powerful gun lobby NRA on Friday (National Rifle Association) the lax gun laws in the USA in many places and instead called for more guns in schools. “The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens,” he said. Armed teachers and armed security guards could prevent horrific acts like those in Uvalde, Trump argued.

The annual NRA meeting was held in Houston, Texas, just three days after the school massacre in Uvalde, some 450 kilometers away. According to media reports, thousands of people protested against gun violence and the NRA in front of the event site. The United States has long struggled with gun violence on a massive scale.
© dpa