At 11:33 a.m. on May 24, 2022, 18 year old Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Motivated by social media fame, Ramos entered the school and opened fire.

   According to the Texas House committee report, “the attacker fired most of his shots and likely murdered most of his innocent victims before any responder set foot in the building.”. How Ramos got so far before being confronted by police is being investigated today.

   A new investigation report claims that miscommunication and “systematic failures” were to blame for the massacre, one of which included the local school district’s failure to follow active shooter protocol enforced after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which states that officers are to immediately confront an active shooter. The shooter was inside the school building for just under an hour before being confronted and killed by police.

   The investigation discovered that multiple attempts were made to confront the shooter, but police units did not reinforce each other. This claim was proven when Uvalde Police Department Lt. Javier Martinez, according to the Texas Tribune, attempted to confront the shooter again after previously being driven back b gunfire. No other officers followed him and he stopped and turned back. Another officer, DPS Special Agent Luke Williams ignored a request to help set up a perimeter around the school in favor of clearing classrooms out. According to The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, Williams found a student hiding in the bathroom and after helping the student get out of the building, he returned to the other officers and another officer said, “Y’all don’t know if there’s kids in there?” to which another officer replied,  “whoever was in charge would figure that out.” This lack of trust and miscommunication led to the shooter being in the school for another 54 minutes. 

  Inadequate school safety measures as well as a lack of keys led to the school leaving many doors unlocked or propped open with various objects, multiple witnesses informed the committee. Police extensively looked for keys until realizing that most of the interior doors were unlocked. This made it very simple for the shooter to enter the school and just walk into classrooms.