Federal Review of Uvalde Shooting Likely to Focus on Delay in Confronting Gunman

The Department of Justice review of the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas, shooting will likely focus on the school police chief’s order to delay sending officers into the classrooms where 19 children and two teachers were massacred — as well as whether the officers knew about 911 calls from students inside, experts say.

The “critical incident review,” requested by the Uvalde police department after parents, witnesses and Texas authorities faulted officers for waiting an hour before entering a locked classroom to confront the gunman, will examine why that decision was made. The meticulous and painstaking process could last months, and will contrast sharply with the piecemeal, inconsistent and frustrating release of information by authorities so far, according to current and former law enforcement officials who have conducted such investigations.

Investigators are expected to gather all sorts of information that has yet to be shared publicly — 911 calls, phone calls, dispatch records, radio transmissions, body camera footage, surveillance video and interviews with officers, witnesses and victims — and combine them into a detailed account of the police response.

They will explore what officers and commanders knew and what they were thinking as the attack unfolded. They will examine what kind of training officers and commanders received for such situations. They will analyze how officers and commanders communicated with one another, and with the public. And they will come up with a set of lessons for law enforcement to avoid the mistakes made during the Uvalde siege and improve the response the next time a gunman storms into a school and opens fire.