DOJ Finds ‘Cascading Failures of Leadership’ in Uvalde Police Response to Robb Elementary Shooting

A report released Thursday by President Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) cited “cascading failures of leadership” in the Uvalde police response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School.

The Texas Tribune noted that the Uvalde attacker legally purchased two rifles just days before the shooting. He used one of the rifles during the attack, killing 19 children and two adults.

WATCH — Hard to Watch: Uvalde Cop Stopped for Hand Sanitizer:

Robb Elementary School / Austin American-Statesman

On January 18, the New York Times reported the DOJ found the Uvalde police response was not up to par, with the “most significant failure” being the decision to treat the incident as a barricade situation instead of an active shooter situation.

The Washington Post quoted Attorney General Merrick Garland commenting on the DOJ report, saying, “The report concludes that had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived.”

WATCH — Disturbing New Footage Shows Botched Uvalde Police Response:

Robb Elementary School / Austin American-Statesman

On June 20, 2022, Breitbart News pointed out that officers were inside the elementary school 19 minutes into the attack but did not enter the classroom where the gunman was located until “nearly another hour” later, according to KVUE.

Garland stressed, “As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers — many of whom had been shot — were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside.”

The DOJ report indicated that part of the police failure resulted in wasting 40 minutes looking for a key to a classroom area that is believed to have been unlocked the entire time.

WATCH — Maher: “It Wouldn’t Have Mattered What Kind of Gun” Uvalde Shooter Had:

The report observed, “Leadership in law enforcement is absolutely critical, especially in moments of dire challenge. It requires courageous action and steadiness in a chaotic environment. … This leadership was absent for too long in the Robb Elementary School law enforcement response.”

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta added grimly, “There was no leader. We cannot look away from what happened here. We cannot look away from these children.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.