Justice Department Launches ‘Critical Incident Review’ of Uvalde Shooting, Vows ‘Assessment Will Be Fair, Transparent, and Independent’

Sarah RumpfMay 29th, 2022, 1:46 pm
 

The Department of Justice is launching a “critical incident review” of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, according to a statement released by the agency on Sunday.

Last Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 19 students at two teachers at the school. Revelations that law enforcement delayed entering the classroom to confront the gunman for about an hour have caused shock and outrage. In a stunning press conference Friday afternoon, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCraw admitted that police responding to the shooting made the “wrong decision” to treat the situation as a “barricaded subject” instead of an “active shooter.” Recent reports that the Uvalde Police Department had a SWAT team that recently conducted active shooter drills — including on the exact same elementary school campus where Tuesday’s shooting occurred — have heightened the calls for investigations.

According to the statement from DOJ spokesman Anthony Coley, the review was initiated at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.

“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” said Coley.

“As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent,” Coley concluded. “The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.”

This is not the same as the DOJ saying they are launching an investigation, said MNSBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian, reporting Sunday from Uvalde.

This incident review is a first step, she explained, and an “investigation can subsequently come next if, in fact, they find wrongdoing. If, in fact, they find that the police department should have gone in sooner. If, in fact, they find, as they did by the way, when it came to Parkland, that the school resource officer stayed outside the building while children were losing their lives inside the building.”

Watch the video above via MSNBC.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.