UCSO is one of several agencies coming under scrutiny for its actions on May 24 when 19 students and two teachers were killed by a mass shooter.
SAN ANTONIO — An independent review of the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office’s found that the department did not have an active shooter policy at the time of the Robb Elementary shooting.
UCSO is one of several agencies coming under scrutiny for its actions on May 24 when 19 students and two teachers were killed by a mass shooter. Multiple investigations in the last six months revealed law enforcement missed several opportunities to act when the gunman entered the classroom. The shooter was in the classroom for 77 minutes before law enforcement breached the door.
The third party who reviewed UCSO said it wasn’t until September that the agency adopted an active shooter policy, four months later. The reviewer said at the time of the shooting, only 20% of the sheriff’s office had active shooter training.
The reviewer did note that among the department’s policies and procedures were glossary definitions that distinguished between an active shooter and a barricaded suspect. Some of the early explanations given for the delayed law enforcement response was that officers believed they were responding to a barricaded subject rather than an active shooter.
The review that was ordered did not look at the individual actions of any deputies during the shooting, just policies and procedures of the department.
Another aspect of the today’s Commissioners Court meeting is that Mariano Pargas attended his first meeting since being elected to the court in November. The former Uvalde Police lieutenant came under fire after reports said he knew that eight or nine children were still alive inside the classroom and he failed to act.
Jesse Rizo, uncle of victim Jackie Cazares, confronted Pargas at the meeting. He had asked for him to resign from the Commissioners Court.
Meanwhile, Brett Cross, the uncle of Uziyah Garcia and outspoken advocate for change since the shooting, was kicked out of the meeting after a public commenter accused the crowd of putting Pargas back in office.
WARNING: The video below does contain strong language.