Uvalde parents want indictments after DOJ's scathing school shooting report
The Justice Department's damning review of the May 2022 school shooting in Texas details 'cascading failures,' but families of the victims want justice
The Justice Department on Thursday released a damning 575-page report detailing "cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training" by law enforcement during the May 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. A lone 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers while at least 380 officers from 24 local, state and federal agencies waited outside for 77 minutes, a handful of them just down the hall from the unlocked classroom.
The "most significant failure" in Uvalde was a decision by local police to classify the active-shooter incident as a barricaded standoff, the report found. Had police "gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Uvalde on Thursday.
The Justice Department review, launched just days after the shooting, added details to a July 2022 report from a Texas House committee and subsequent investigations by news organizations. Relatives of the 21 people murdered at Robb Elementary School said they appreciate the DOJ's authoritative postmortem of the shooting but they still have unanswered questions — and they want names and accountability.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Three other investigations — from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the city of Uvalde and Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell's office — remain unreleased, The Texas Tribune reported. Mitchell has not said if her criminal investigation will lead to charges.
"There's no justice until some cops get indicted for their malfeasance," said local state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D).
"Because the DOJ stamp is on there, maybe y'all will start taking us seriously now," Brett Cross, whose son Uziyah died in the shooting, said after Garland's press conference. "It's hard enough waking up every day and continuing to walk out on the streets and walk to an H-E-B and see a cop that you know was standing there while our babies were murdered and bleeding out," he said, adding that he hopes this report "lights a fire up under the district attorney's ass."
The Justice Department report focuses on what went wrong in Uvalde and how to improve police response to school shootings.
"Our children deserve better than to grow up in a country where an 18-year-old has easy access to a weapon that belongs on the battlefield," Garland said. "And communities across the country, and the law enforcement officers who protect them, deserve better than to be forced to respond to one horrific mass shooting after another. But that is the terrible reality that we face," and "every community across the country must be prepared."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The value of silence
Under The Radar In a world 'filled with constant yapping' some are making an effort to keep schtum
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Today's political cartoons - May 19, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - 2024 votes, AI woes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 high rating cartoons about Biden's low poll numbers
Cartoons Artists take on checklists, ice creams, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Texas governor pardons man convicted of BLM murder
Speed Read Gov. Greg Abbott granted a full pardon to Daniel Perry, who shot a Black Lives Matter protestor
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraud
Speed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black men
Speed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughter
speed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published