San Antonio lawmakers say Justice Department report shows Texas' failure on Uvalde

San Antonio lawmakers wasted no time in voicing outrage over a new U.S. Justice Department report cataloging "cascading failures" by state and local police during their foot-dragging response to the deadly Uvalde school shooting.

The report, released Thursday, provides the most comprehensive federal analysis of authorities' botched reaction to the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in May 2022.

Justice Department researchers called out law enforcement for its failure to immediately confront the gunman rather than allow him to carry out more carnage while he had access to a pair of connected classrooms, the Texas Tribune reports in its analysis of the 575-page document. State and local police waited 77 minutes before entering the rooms and slaying the gunman.

The delayed response flies in the face of law enforcement training widely employed since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, according to the Tribune's review of the federal report.

The response was further marred by state and local police's failures in leadership, communication, training and use of technology, according to an Associated Press review of the document.

"There's not a lot in this report that we didn't already know and that you haven't already broken to the public — not a whole lot," Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, told reporters at a Thursday morning press conference in Uvalde. "But I think the final conclusion — the only solace we can take from this — is that it's finally there in black and white, and in writing, for us all to see."

During his comments, Gutierrez skewered the Department of Texas Public Safety and local law enforcement for a "complete and utter lack of urgency" in dealing with the crisis. The senator, whose district includes Uvalde, made multiple attempts to pass gun control measures following the massacre, only to have Republicans in the statehouse swat down every one.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said he feels for Uvalde families as the report dredges up the "anger and pain" from the tragedy.

"As a father of three kids — two in elementary school — I’m furious and saddened by the ways that Uvalde’s grieving families have been victimized, first by a preventable shooting, and then by Governor [Greg] Abbott, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, and other public officials in Texas who hid the truth about Uvalde and lied to cover up their failures," Castro said in an emailed statement.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more news breaks.

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