Police of Texas (USA) admitted this Friday that it was a mistake not to enter before and by force into the room where the attacker of the school where 19 children -between 8 and 10 years old- and two teachers died last Tuesday , to which the agents It took about an hour to access.
In a press conference, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Steven McCraw, acknowledged that not breaking down the door and waiting for the concierge to arrive with the key was a “wrong decision” and blamed her on the highest police officer who was at the school at the time.
The New York Times identifies this commander as Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez.
According to McCraw, after having heard multiple shots in the classroom and that they only went to the door when the agents tried to access, the aforementioned chief interpreted that there was no one left alive inside except the aggressor.
This interpretation led him to decide change the protocol from “active attacker” to “entrenched suspect”, So instead of breaking down the door and breaking in, exposing his officers to the assailant’s gunfire, he opted to wait for the key and reinforcements with the proper equipment to arrive.
“(The police chief) considered that there was time and that there were no more children in danger. Obviously, there were and the attacker was still active. It was the wrong decision and there is no excuse that is worth, ” McCraw acknowledged.
The 21 fatalities of the shooting were in the same classroom, but when the police finally gained access, they also found children alive.
Alert calls to the Police were made even from within the classroom by some students.
During the hour in which the Police waited for reinforcements and made no attempt to enter the classroom by force, there were 19 officers in the school according to official sources.
McGraw also confirmed, as had begun to circulate in recent hours, that the local police prevented a heavily armed Border Police team from breaking into the school during the first response to the shooting.
After entering the classroom, Salvador Ramos – as the aggressor has been identified – closed the door from the inside and fired indiscriminately at the students and teachers.
The reaction of the Police is being the subject of numerous and angry criticisms by families and the general public on social networks and the media, considering that the Security Forces could have acted more quickly.