Uvalde school police held an active shooter drill just two months before Salvador Ramos massacred 19 schoolchildren. The Texas city’s Consolidated Independent School District held the training session to “prepare as best as possible” for the exact situation that just occurred. Uvalde law enforcement has been heavily criticized after it was revealed that they waited outside for 40 minutes before entering the building.
The goal of the training was to “train every Uvalde law enforcement officer so that we can prepare as best as possible for any situation that may arise.” It was held in late March.
Texas state law requires all public school districts to “adopt and implement” an emergency operation plan, and to carry out drills related to active threats or severe weather, according to KSAT.
However, a Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University found that just 200 of 1,022 school districts in the state had active shooter policies, according to the Texas Tribune.
Uvalde police opted not to enter the classroom where Ramos killed 19 children because they believed he was barricaded in, and that all potential victims had already been killed. But it has since been revealed that multiple 911 calls were made from the classroom during the 40-minute waiting period.
Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief Pete Arredondo reportedly told officers not to breach. Steven McCraw, who serves as the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, revealed that an incident commander made a critical mistake in not responding to an active shooter situation. The incident commander, who was not revealed by name, is reported to have been Arredondo.
A 911 call from Robb Elementary revealed that about nine students were still alive as of 12:16 pm, but the gunman was not killed until 12:50 pm. Ramos was ultimately taken down by a tactical team comprised of off-duty Border Patrol agents — many of whom had children in the school — who had grown tired of waiting.
