In a report released Thursday, the US Justice Department (DoJ) called law enforcement’s response to the 2022 Uvalde shooting a “failure”

On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and fatally shot 19 students and two teachers

Police responded within minutes but retreated after being fired at

They did not confront the shooter for another 77 minutes despite hearing gunshots and receiving frantic phone calls from trapped survivors

They eventually stormed a classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself and killed him

Immediately after the shooting, allegations of law enforcement failures circulated widely

A Texas report released last year attributed the slow response time to a series of cascading failures, including Uvalde’s remote location, poor cell service, and a lack of clear leadership

Then on Thursday, the DoJ released a report calling law enforcement’s response a “failure”

The report said the “most critical tactical failure” was law enforcement’s decision to treat the shooter as a “barricaded suspect,” meaning they did not consider him to be an active shooter

In reality, 33 students and three teachers were trapped with the shooter, and while police waited, the gunman fired at least 45 rounds

“Officers on scene should have recognized the incident as an active shooter scenario and moved and pushed forward immediately and continuously…That did not occur,” the report said

The report blamed the failed response on a lack of leadership, singling out several officers who should have assumed command

The failure of any officer to do so contributed to disorganization, confusion, and slow response times, it added

An example of such confusion was when police officers searched for 40 minutes for a key to a door that led into the shooter’s room, when in reality the door was likely unlocked all along

The report also claimed law enforcement’s efforts to notify family members of their loved one’s death were “disorganized” and “chaotic”

The report did not recommend criminal charges but did include specific recommendations, including that officers responding to school shootings immediately neutralize the gunman

Many of the specific allegations contained in the report had already been reported on in the past

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