In article <t15m7r$2qqm0$42@news.freedyn.de>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:

Multiple police officers armed with rifles and at least one
ballistic shield stood and waited in a school hallway for nearly
an hour while a gunman carried out a massacre of 19 elementary
students and two teachers on May 24, according to Monday news
reports that mark the latest embarrassing revelation about the
failure of law enforcement to thwart the attack.

The officers with heavier firepower and tactical equipment were
there within 19 minutes of the gunman arriving on campus -
earlier than previously known, according to documents reviewed
by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV.

The outlets' reports, which did not indicate the source of the
documents, nevertheless intensified the anguish and questions
over why police didn't act sooner to stop the May 24 slaughter
in the Robb Elementary School classroom.

The information is to be presented to a public Texas Senate
hearing in Austin on Tuesday. Investigators say the latest
information indicates officers had more than enough firepower
and protection to take down the gunman long before they finally
did, the outlets reported.

Separately, CNN, citing a law enforcement source close to the
investigation, reported that eleven officers -- including Uvalde
school district police chief Pete Arredondo -- were inside Robb
Elementary School within three minutes of when the gunman got in
on May 24.

The timeline the American-Statesman and KVUE reported from the
documents included footage from inside the school that showed
the 18-year-old gunman casually entering a rear door at 11:33
a.m., walking to a classroom and immediately spraying gunfire
before barricading himself. Video showed 11 officers entering
the school three minutes later, the outlets reported.

Arredondo called the Uvalde Police Department landline and
reported that their suspect had "shot a lot" with an AR-15-style
rifle and outgunned the officers at the school, who he said were
armed only with pistols, the outlets reported.

Four minutes later, at 11:44 a.m., body camera video recorded
the sound of more gunshots. At 11:52 a.m., the first ballistic
shield arrived as officers grew impatient to act. Arredondo
struggled to find a key to the classroom door even though no one
is believed to have tried opening the door, the outlets reported.

Another officer with a ballistic shield arrived at 12:03 p.m.,
and another came with a shield two minutes later. About 30
minutes before officers finally breached the classroom door at
12:50 p.m., Arredondo is heard wondering aloud if the gunman
could be shot through a window. Only at 12:46 p.m. did Arredondo
tell the tactical team members to breach the door when ready,
the outlets reported.

In the past week, the San Antonio Express-News reported that
video surveillance footage from the school did not show officers
attempting to open the door leading to the classrooms where the
massacre was happening. And The New York Times reported two
Uvalde city police officers told a sheriff's deputy that they
passed up a fleeting chance to shoot the gunman while he was
still outside the school because they feared they would hit
children.

Delays in the law enforcement response have been the focus of
the federal, state and local investigation of the massacre and
its aftermath. Questioned about the law enforcement response
began days after the massacre. Col. Steve McCraw, director of
the Texas Department of Public Safety, said on May 27 that
Arredondo made "the wrong decision" when he chose not to storm
the classroom for more than 70 minutes, even as trapped fourth
graders inside two classrooms were desperately calling 911 for
help.

Arredondo later said he didn't consider himself the person in
charge and assumed someone else had taken control of the law
enforcement response. Arredondo has declined repeated requests
for comment to The Associated Press.

CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reports that the Uvalde school
board heard calls for Arredondo to be fired at an emotional
meeting Monday night.

"We were failed by Pete Arredondo," said Brett Cross, the uncle
and guardian of victim Uziyah Garcia. "He failed our kids,
teachers, parents, and city, and by keeping him on your staff,
y'all are continuing to fail us."

The station says some 200 people attended, including families of
those who lost their lives.

Speakers insisted that anyone who fell short in performing his
or her duties be held accountable.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-more-
reports-police-response-doubt/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a