Texas shooting: Police admit failures; say not taking prompt action was 'wrong decision'

The decision, made by the incident commander not to enter the Uvalde school in the wake of the shooting and wait for the tactical team, was "wrong", Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said, adding that the standard procedure in such situations is to confront the shooter immediately and not to wait. However, on Thursday, the police waited, despite arriving early at the site. This response has raised questions about the force’s decision making and whether casualties would have been reduced in such cases.

Speaking about the same, McCraw told reporters that the decision was “made that in this barricaded subject situation, there was time to retreat the kids and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breach the door and take on the subject at that point." He then elaborated that there were 19 officers on the spot and everybody made the right decision except for one. “The incident commander inside, who believed that he needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point….where I am sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision,” he added. 

Explaining further he reclined that the commander in charge thought that the situation had transitioned from an active shooter situation to that of a barricade one and that there were no children at risk. Thursday’s mass shooting had left 19 elementary school children and two teachers dead, making it the deadliest shooting in a decade in US history.

Meanwhile, Texas DPS has set up a family assistance centre to address the needs and provide information to those affected by the school tragedy.  

Assailant shot his grandmother too

The assailant, identified as Salvador Ramos, was shot dead by law enforcement, according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Texas Public Safety Department Director Steven McCaw informed that Ramos shot his grandmother in the face before he went on a killing spree at the elementary school in the Latino neighbourhood. He then drove the body of his grandmother bespattered in blood towards the school and crashed the car a block away. "He exited with his backpack, took an AR-15 Rifle and his handgun with him," McCraw added, as quoted by CNN. The attacker had also discussed his plans with a German girl he met online. Through a chilling series of messages Ramos informed her that he had shot his grandmother and was on the way to "shoot up an elementary school," CNN reported.    

(Image: AP)