A report found that one Uvalde police officer could have shot the mass murderer before he entered an elementary school but that he didn’t get the go ahead order from his supervisor.
The report was just the latest in a series of controversial findings documenting inexplicable mistakes in the police response to the horrific mass shooting.
The Texas State University’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training report was a review of the response from the Uvalde Police.
Salvador Rolando Ramos murdered 19 students and two teachers at the Robb Elementary School on May 24.
Ramos had crashed a truck near the school and began shooting at windows. At about that time, an officer with a rifle had Ramos in his gunsights.
“The officer, armed with a rifle, asked his supervisor for permission to shoot the suspect,” the report said. “However, the supervisor either did not hear or responded too late. The officer turned to get confirmation from his supervisor and when he turned back to address the suspect, he had entered the west hallway unabated.”
The ALERRT report went on to cite the Texas penal code saying officers can use deadly force if it is “immediately necessary to prevent the commission of murder.”
While the officer would have been allowed to fire on the suspect at the time, the report said he could have mistakenly believed he needed authorization from a supervisor, or he could have believed the suspect was too far away for an accurate shot.
The assessment found other failings of the police response that may had led to the preventable loss of life.
It found that officers “lost momentum” waiting for more firepower and equipment to arrive at the school while taking more fire. The report said that officers failed to consider other options to breach the room, including going through the sheetrock or through the windows.
The report had a damning conclusion.
“While we do not have definitive information at this point, it is possible that some of the people who died during this event could have been saved,” the report said.
Here’s more about the new Uvalde report:
Report Reveals Uvalde Officer Waited For Supervisor Permission To Shoot Gunman
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