DOJ report on Uvalde shooting cites 'cascading failures'

A scathing Justice Department report into the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, described "cascading failures of leadership" and directs blame at responding officers for failing to confront the shooter sooner.

The review team "identified several critical failures and other breakdowns prior to, during, and after the Robb Elementary School response," the report found.

An 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School in May of 2022, killing 19 students and two teachers before law enforcement breached the classroom and killed the shooter. Responding officers from state and local outfits waited some 77 minutes before breaching a classroom and killing the shooter.

The police response came under scrutiny almost immediately, and a series of misstatements by officials in its aftermath compounded frustration within the tightly knit community. After initially lauding the bravery of first responders, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw called their performance an "abject failure."

Within weeks of the shooting, the Justice Department announced plans to launch a "Critical Incident Review" to examine the police response. Attorney General Merrick Garland commissioned nine law enforcement experts to conduct interviews and review evidence to craft a "complete incident reconstruction," a department official said at the time.

That work culminated this week in a searing 600-page report that includes gut-wrenching new details about the shooting and its aftermath.

"[Some] families received incorrect information suggesting their family members had survived when they had not," the report noted. "And others were notified of the deaths of their family members by personnel untrained in delivering such news."

The Justice Department assessment builds on a report issued in July 2022 by a special committee of the Texas state legislature which described a series of "shortcomings and failures" in the law enforcement response.

Members of the review team visited Uvalde nine times, spending a total of 54 days on site and conducting more than 260 interviews with individuals from more than 30 organizations with knowledge of the response.

Garland visited family members of the victims on Wednesday. Afterwards, members of the community expressed gratitude to the department for pursuing the truth.

"I think it's a step in the right direction," said Kim Rubio, whose daughter, Lexi Rubio, was killed in the shooting. "I think for the first time we felt respected – we felt treated with respect, and I believe we're going to get the answers we're looking for."