Uvalde report to be released by US Justice Department

The police did not do a good job in responding to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, according to the Department of Justice.

On Thursday, a report was finally released. It said that the police did not understand the situation well when 19 students and two teachers died.

Many police officers went to Robb Elementary school, but it took them more than one hour to find and stop the person with the gun.

The Justice Department made a report that is over 400 pages long. It lists mistakes that the police made.

People in Uvalde, a small town in Texas with about 15,000 people, have been waiting for the Justice Department’s report since it was announced a few days after the shooting on May 24, which was one of the worst in US history.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland visited families in Uvalde and saw the paintings of victims on the walls around town. Officials from the Justice Department met privately with the families of victims and gave them information before the report was made public.

Berlinda Arreola, whose granddaughter was killed in the shooting, told the Associated Press after the meeting: “I have a lot of feelings right now. I don’t have much to say.

Oscar Orona, whose 10-year-old son was shot in a classroom, told the Washington Post: “I think the report will prove what we already knew, that it was a terrible failure. ”

“But now everyone will know too. ”

Former Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin asked for a review because state officials gave different stories about what happened before police stopped an 18-year-old gunman from shooting a rifle inside two fourth-grade classrooms.

Almost 400 police were at Robb Elementary School, but victims and their families think the police took too long to help.

In July 2022, Texas lawmakers released a harsh report blaming the police for making very bad decisions that led to a terrible event.

The shooter shot about 142 bullets in the building before he was stopped, according to the report.

Videos from police cameras showed officers standing in the hallways outside classrooms where the shooter was shooting.

Families who have lost loved ones called the police cowards and said they should quit their jobs.

The Texas officials’ report said that the police didn’t focus on saving innocent lives before their own safety.

At least five cops got fired, including Pete Arredondo, the old chief of police for Uvalde schools who got fired in August 2022.

Many people in the community have taken legal action against the city police and local government officials. The cases are still waiting to be resolved.

Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said in December that she is still investigating the police response. She expects to finish the investigation in 2024 and then present her findings to a grand jury. This information comes from CBS News, the BBC’s media partner.