A Uvalde, Texas, police officer aimed his rifle at a man outside an elementary school, but he didn't get a response when he asked for permission to shoot, according to a report that documented mistakes made by police.
The school is in Uvalde, Texas. Brandon Bell poses for a picture.
By the time the officer asked for confirmation to shoot, the suspect had already entered the school, according to a report commissioned by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
If the officer missed the shot, he would have been justified in using deadly force, but ALERRT said he would have been justified if he had a clear shot.
An officer who was traveling at a high rate of speed in the school's parking lot didn't see the shooter while he was still outside and was one of several missed opportunities.
The report criticized officers for initially entering the building from two different areas of the school, a choice that could have created a crossfire situation and resulted in a high likelihood of officers shooting officers at the other end.
There were issues with the school's security mechanisms, including an exterior door that was propped open by rocks and that did not lock when a teacher shut it after spotting the shooter.
In its report, ALERRT stated that officers did not properly engage the shooter after entering the building. There was a high chance that some of the officers would have been shot or even killed if they had kept their position. The officers would have been able to stop the attacker and get the wounded to the hospital.
Some of the people who died could have been saved if they had received more rapid medical care, according to the report.
Texas law enforcement has faced intense criticism for the response to the shooting and constantly changing timelines. During that wait time, the incident commander, Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo, requested specialized units and classified the incident as a barricaded-subject situation, despite multiple shots being fired while officers were on the scene. Parents begged officers to go inside the school to save their children, but several adults were handcuffed and held for interfering with the police investigation. Arredondo resigned from his position on Uvalde's city council.
In an interview with CNN Tuesday, the mayor of Uvalde said he was not confident in the investigation of the shooting by the Texas Department of Public Safety. What do they tell us? McLaughlin said it was hard to tell a lie. It's not possible for your story to change in three days. I don't know what to think.
The Uvalde classroom door wasn't locked and police didn't try to open it without a key.
Here's everything that turned out to be false.
A student led the police to the scene of the shooting as they waited for tactical units to arrive.
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