Texas State Senator Claims No Command was Ever Given to Breach Uvalde Classroom, Says Blaming Cops on Scene ‘Not Good Enough’
Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) is claiming no official command was ever given to breach the Robb Elementary School Classroom where a gunman recently barricaded himself with a number of students. The shooting led to the deaths of more than 20, and serious concerns have been raised about the delayed police response to the situation.
Appearing on At This Hour on CNN Tuesday, Gutierrez revealed he will be requesting copies of police communications from the scene to better understand why the classroom with the gunman was not breached for approximately an hour until federal agencies arrived on the scene. Texas Department of Safety head Steve McCraw said last week the on-scene commander at the time made the decision that once the shooter was barricaded, it was no longer an active shooter situation. In light of reports about students in the classroom calling 9-1-1 and parents demanding police outside the school breach, McCraw admitted it was the “wrong” call.
“To blame the one cop on the scene with the six other cops that work for him isn’t good enough,” Gutierrez told CNN host Kate Bolduan, saying more needs to be known about why the decision to not go in was made and why others followed along with it. The state senator said it was Border Patrol agents who eventually decided on their own to breach the classroom, despite protests from local police.
“Is it your understanding that no command decision was ever made to breach the classroom?” Bolduan asked.
“That is my understanding. What I have been told from law enforcement is that [Border Patrol] finally took it upon themselves and said, ‘we’re going in.’ That is my understanding,” Gutierrez said. The Democrat revealed he spoke directly with McCraw who told him a full report about the shooting the police response will be ready for release by Friday.
Gutierrez said the “communications problem” among police at the scene likely led to further deaths as students waited in the room with the gunman. One young survivor described to CNN the gunman having time to play music while he was barricaded in the room.
“That’s the failure in this entire system, in this entire process. We have multiple state agencies, federal agencies, localized agencies, and somewhere along the way, there’s a communications problem,” Gutierrez said. “We’re not hearing 9-1-1 disturbance calls. We’re not hearing proper radio transmissions. I’m going to be asking for radio transmissions next. Kids are alive. Clearly they’re alive. This is not a barricade situation, and the information is flowing in.”
