Sheriff Orvis Campbell expresses dismay about lack of response by Uvalde law enforcement
NEW PHILADELPHIA — Sheriff Orvis Campbell says the response by police to the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre on May 24 was "the single greatest failure of law enforcement I can recall."
On Thursday, the sheriff posted on his personal Facebook page that a coworker advised him to watch leaked surveillance video, which was published by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper on Tuesday.
More: Why the Austin American-Statesman chose to publish video from inside Robb Elementary
The video shows in painstaking detail heavily armed officers from multiple local, state and federal agencies arriving in the hallway outside the classrooms where the gunman was located and waiting to take action, even after hearing gunfire from inside the classrooms, the newspaper reported.
The video doesn't shed light on why the officers waited or who was giving orders.
A total of 19 students and two teachers were killed.
"As I watched what I could of the video, I became uncontrollably emotional about the completely inexplicable display of inaction that I viewed," Campbell wrote. "I have worked for the sheriff’s office for 29 years and spent three years before that working as a probation officer and have been pretty well trained.
"I watched as men with body armor, rifles, pistols and ballistic shields staged at the end of a hallway furthest from the classroom where a gunman was in a classroom with students.
"I cannot say in this forum what I truly believe about those law enforcement officers or what I feel should happen to them. This video has seriously affected me in a way that no one could believe. There is no policy, training or excuse that they can make that would justify their inaction. It was the single greatest failure of law enforcement I can recall.
"I have seen my guys put themselves at great risk to help others and have been so proud to be a LEO (law enforcement officer). I was anything but proud after watching people of my profession act that way. Some say that a law enforcement officer’s first job is to go home alive. NOT TRUE! Our first job is to make sure other innocent people go home alive."
He concluded, "So without going any further into an unprofessional tirade, just let me say this. I believe that your Tuscarawas County deputies would never act like this (or fail to act) and if they did, I promise to stand before you and confess my failure as a sheriff for not hiring better men and women."
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Sheriff dismayed over lack of response by Uvalde law enforcement
