DOJ releases report on Uvalde school shooting, AG Garland calls police response a “failure”

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Attorney General Merrick Garland and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta spoke in Uvalde, Texas today about the Justice Department’s report detailing the police response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in 2022.

“I told the families gathered last night, what I hope is clear among the hundreds of pages and thousands of details in this report, their loved ones deserve better,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “Law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 — and in the hours and days after — was a failure that should not have happened.”

The Justice Department report identifies myriad problems from failed communication and leadership to inadequate technology and training.

The federal report is not the only investigation into the Uvalde shooting response. A panel of Texas state lawmakers published an 80-page report and investigations by journalists described the 77 minutes when officers went in and out of the school with weapons drawn but did not go inside the classroom where the shooting was taking place. The 376 officers at the scene included state police, Uvalde police, school officers and U.S. Border Patrol agents.

“It is hard to look at the truth,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said, “that the law enforcement response on May 24th was an unimaginable failure, and that a lack of action by adults failed to protect children and their teachers.”

At least five officers have lost their jobs, including two Department of Public Safety officers and Uvalde’s school police chief, Pete Arredondo, who was the on-site commander during the attack, which left 19 students and two teachers dead.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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