"Systemic failures" blamed for Uvalde school shooting killing 21 in U.S. Texas

People mourn for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

"The facts laid out in the report also made clear that neither existing gun laws, nor expanded background checks passed by Congress in response to the shooting, would have prevented the gunman, Salvador Ramos, from obtaining the weapon he used," says The New York Times.

HOUSTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- "Systemic failures" were blamed for the May 24 primary school shooting killing 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, south central U.S. state of Texas, said a Texas House investigative committee report released Sunday.

As many as 376 law enforcement officers rushed to Robb Elementary School shortly after Salvador Ramos, the single shooter, opened fire -- most of them federal and state law enforcement with responsibilities including responding to mass attacks in public places, said the 77-page report, the most complete account of the shooting to date.

However, none of them was able to subdue the 18-year-old gunman before he carried out the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, partly because of "systemic failures and egregious poor decision making," said the report.

There was no clear leadership, no basic communications and no sufficient urgency to stop the shooter in a chaotic and uncoordinated scene lasting for more than an hour, said the report.

"Hundreds of responders from numerous law enforcement agencies -- many of whom were better trained and better equipped than the school district police -- quickly arrived on the scene. Those other responders ... could have helped to address the unfolding chaos," it said.

People attend a vigil to mourn for victims of a school mass shooting at Town Square in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 29, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

Local police, especially Pete Arredondo, who was then police chief of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD), were widely criticized for failing to follow the active doctrine developed after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which dictates that officers immediately confront active shooters. Instead, Arredondo did not take charge, and the local police retreated after coming under fire and then waited for backup.

"They failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety," the report echoed the criticism.

And "these local officials were not the only ones expected to supply the leadership needed during this tragedy," the report noted. "In this crisis, no responder seized the initiative to establish an incident command post."

"Despite an obvious atmosphere of chaos, the ranking officers of other responding agencies did not approach the Uvalde CISD chief of police or anyone else perceived to be in command to point out the lack of and need for a command post, or to offer that specific assistance," it said.

A small team of Border Patrol agents finally decided they would breach the classroom without seeking permission from Arredondo and killed the shooter, but the decision could have been made far earlier, it said.

People mourn for victims of a school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the United States, May 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

The report also noted that a culture of complacency weakened the safeguards of Robb Elementary School since employees often left doors unlocked.

"Had school personnel locked the doors as the school's policy required, that could have slowed his (the gunman's) progress for a few precious minutes -- long enough to receive alerts, hide children, and lock doors," it said.

The doors to the classroom where the gunman was inside were later found to have been unlocked the entire time, but when law enforcement arrived, they assumed that they could not break them down to reach the gunman, showed the report.

The report also found that there were a number of warning signs showing that the gunman, a high school dropout, was unstable and has even earned the nickname "school shooter" on social media platforms. However, no one interacting with the gunman had attempted to alert authorities about his troubling behaviors.

In its coverage on the report published Sunday, The Texas Tribune said the investigation is the first ever to criticize the inaction of state and federal law enforcement.

"The facts laid out in the report also made clear that neither existing gun laws, nor expanded background checks passed by Congress in response to the shooting, would have prevented the gunman, Salvador Ramos, from obtaining the weapon he used," The New York Times said in an article published Sunday.