Transcripts For CSPAN2 Attorney 20240705 : vimarsana.com

This is about 40 minutes. Good morning. Last night i met with the victims and loved ones of the horrific shooting at rob elementary school. I came here to tell them the unit justice has finished its Critical Incident review. In undertaking this review at the request of the then mayor, the Justice Department committed to using our expertise and independence to assess the Law Enforcement response to the shooting and to provide guidance moving forward. As i told families and survivors last night, the departments review concluded that a series of majorea failures, failures in leadership and tactics and communications, in training and in presentedness were made by Law Enforcement and others responding to the mass shooting at rob elementary. As a result, 33 students and three of their teachers, many of whom had been shot, were trapped in a r active shooter for over an hour as Law Enforcement officials remained outside. I also told the families and survivors how deeply sorry i am for the losses they suffered that day and for the losses they have suffered every day since. I told them the priority is to honor those taken from them. And i told the families that from the hundreds of thousands of details in this report, their loved ones deserved better. The Law Enforcement response and in the hours and days after was a failure that should not have happened. We hope to honor the victims and survivors to and im going to turn to the key observations and recommendations of the report. On may 24, 2022 at 11 33 a. M. , an active shooter equipped with ar15 rifle began shooting into classrooms 111 and 112 which shared a connecting door. Within minutes, 11 Law Enforcement officers from the Uvalde Police department arrived inside the school. Hearing continued gun fire, five officers immediately advanced to classrooms 1111 and 112 and shots were fired from inside the classroom, shrapnel hit two officers. A signal officer made to approach. They were still waiting at 11 56 a. M. When an officer told Law Enforcement officers that his wife, a teacher was inside room 111 and 112 and had been shot and still waiting as broadcasts went out on officer radios that students in room 111 called 911 to say that the student was in a room full of victims. That student stayed on the phone with 911 for 16 minutes. The victims were still waiting to be rescued when the subject fired four more shots inside the classrooms at 12 21 p. M. 49 minutes after officers arrived on the scene and they were still waiting for another 27 minutes after that until finally officers entered the classroom and killed the subject. As the victims were trapped and waiting r helped, many of their families were waiting outside the school growing increasingly concerned about why Law Enforcement had not taken action to rescue their loved ones. Law enforcement officers from different agencies selfdeployed to the scene in overwhelming numbers with themeses waiting for leadership decisions about how to proceed. Many officers said they didnt know who if anyone was in charge, what should they do. Some officers were confused not to confront the shooter. Some officers plefd the suspect had already been killed and Law Enforcement was in the room with the shooter. 75 m the first officers arrived on scene, officers entered room 111. The subject engaged the entry team with gunfire and the first responded with fire. 77 minutes after officers arrived and after 45 rounds had been fired by the active shooter, the shooter was killed. The massacre at rob bsh b. 19 children and two teachers were killed. And untold numbers of students, teachers and Law Enforcement officers were injured. The Law Enforcement response to the mass shooting at rob b elementary was a failure. As the threat has dproan and evolved over the past several decades, Law Enforcement response tactics has also changed. The massacre at Columbine High School 25 years ago and 47 minutes it took the Law Enforcement to enter thahi markf how Law Enforcement leaders think about responding to mass shootings. It is understood by Law Enforcement agencies across the country that active shooting incidents, time is not on the side of Law Enforcement. Every second counts. And the priority of Law Enforcement must be to immediately enter the room and stop the shooter with whatever weapons and tools officers have with them. That is the approach responding officers first employed when they he arrived. But arriving within the school, officials on scene transitioned from treating the he scene from an active shooter situation to a barricaded subject. This was the most significant failure. That meant that officials prioritied the classrooms and instead of rescuing the victims trapped from the active shooter. They tried to negotiate with the subject instead of entering the room and confronting him. It meant that officials asked for and waited for additional responsers instead of founding practice and moving toward the shooter with the resources they had. And keys to open the classroom door which the report concludes was unlocked any way. And it meant that victims remained trapped with the shooter for more than an hour after the first officers arrived on scene. There are other failures in leadership, command and coordination. None of the Law Enforcement leaders at the scene accomplished command structure to provide control and coordination among the enormous numbers of those who arrived on scene. This was exacerbated and contributed to confusion about who was in charge and how they could help. These failures may have been influenced by policy and training deficiencies at responding Law Enforcement agencies. Some lacked any active Shooter Training at all, some had appropriate training some lacked and vast majority never trained together with different agencies. As associate attorneyen discusse chaos and detail while the shooter remained a threat defined the aftermath of the shooting. Surviving victims some with Bullet Wounds were put on buses without being brought to the attention of medics. Some families were told that their family members had survived pa p they had not. And family members didnt receive timely information about what had occurred at robb elementary. In preparing this report was threefold. The victims and survivors and loved ones. Second, prat a clear and independent accounting of the Law Enforcement response to the horrific attack that devastated this community. And third, Law Enforcement agencies across the country with analysis and recommendations about how it happened should inform efforts to prepare themselves for and respond to mass shootings. Policing is a noble ploftion. It is also a hard one. It requires training and constant education about evolving threats. The report includes recommendations that have been adopted by Law Enforcement agencies country about how to prepare for and respond to active shooter situations. Before an active shooter incident occurs, Law Enforcement agencies have the responsibility to ensure that the leaders and all their officers are trained to that the first officers on the scene must focus eliminate the threat and protect the victims. Law enforcement officers must be prepared to take charge to accomplish a unified command and facilitate coordination and allocation and delivery of resources and must assess and adjust as the incident evolves. In the aftermath of a mass shooting, Law Enforcement and Government Agencies must have public trust by communicating openly, clearly and compassion naturally during a time that many are learning the devastating news that any human being. Can receive. The victims and survivors of a mass shooting of robb elementary deserve better. First and foremost, the 19 children and two teachers who were stolen from their loved ones should be here today. They never should have been targeted by a mass shooter. We must never forget the shooters heinous act that day. And the victims that were trapped with that shooter by more than an hour as they waited for a rescue. The families deserve more than than incomplete, ac ralt and conflicting communications about the status. This community deserves more than misinformation from officials during and after the attack. Responding officers here in uvalde who lost loved ones and bear the emotional scars deserve the leadership and training that would have prepared them and do the work that was required. Our children deserve better than to grow up in a country where an 18yearold has easy access to a weapon that belongs on the battlefield, not in the classroom. And communities across and law t officers who protect them deserve better than to be forced to respond to one horrific mass shooting after another. That is the terrible reality we face. And so this is a reality that every Law Enforcement agency and every Community Across the country must be prepared for. No community and no Law Enforcement agency should have to face that threat alone. That is why we came to uvalde. And that is why we are releasing this report. The Justice Department remains committed in working in partnership with communities across the country and Law Enforcement agencies working to protect those communities every day. In particular, we stand to help communities and agencies primed to respond to a terrible incident like the one that occurred here. We have concluded the departments review, but we know the work of healing here in uvalde is only beginning. We are humbled and grateful to stand with this community as you remember and honor your loved ones. I will now turn the podium over to the associate attorney general. Her leadership has been key to the departments and conduct a review of the horrific shooting of may 24 and its aftermath. And im grateful to the incidene departments cops office for their tireless work. Thank you, mr. Attorney general. It is hard to look at the truth that the Law Enforcement response on may 24, was an unimaginable failure and lack of action by adults failed to protect children and their teachers. But we cannot look away from what happened here. We cannot look away from these children and we cannot look away from what happened in uvalde. On may 24, 2022, this community lost 19 beloved children and two cherishedin the days and weeks , this Community Also lost a sense of faith and trust in their own neighbors and institutions as they tried to make what happened on the 24. During that time, the then mayor called me to ask the Justice Department to conduct an independent review of what had happened and what went wrong on may 24 and in the days that followed. Shortly after the Justice Department began its review. The attorney general just gave a sense of the timeline that we have lined out and the failures that occurred over the course of 77 minutes when between Law Enforcement arrived and when they entered the classroom but we know the pain and failures and missteps did not end when Law Enforcement finally entered the classroom and rescued survivors and continued at minute 78 when it became clear that there was no leader, no plan to triage the victims in room 111 and 112. They were moved away. Victims who were already passed away in ambulancees and children in Bullet Wounds were put on school buses without medical attention. One victim was placed on the ground outside to be attended to. She died there. The reunification and notification of families was chaotic and truly deeply painful. During and during the 77 minutes, families received unclear and conflicting information about where to go to reunite. Family members waited at the school for hours not knowing where their children were if they were safe, hurt or even alive. Families searching for their loved ones were sent to the high school, civic center, the hospital. Some of these details are gut wrenching. Families hearing about the need of autopsy results hearing that their loved ones may not have survived. An official incorrectly told families waiting for their children that an additional bus of survivors was coming and did not. Inaccurate and social media posts only made things worst. At 12 06 p. M. , Law Enforcement posted on facebook, we are assuring parents that students and staff are safe in the building. That assurance was never corrected. Law enforcement inaccurately reported that the shooter was in custody. That post was never corrected. Those news schedules and immediate pa engage were inaccurate and incomplete information. State and local agencies failed to coordinate to information being provided to families and Community Members and the public. We also know that following a tragedy endures support of Community Needs has been missing and we cannot talk about what happened without reckoning that the tragedy took place where all children should be supported and cared for and safe. Our report documents missteps that contributed to this tragedy and the Campus Safety plan was a templates and security measures that were not available at robb and there was a come placens with routinely left unlocked and that confusion over to where to find master keys contributed to the delay in entering classrooms in 111 and 112. When i came to uvalde to meet with families and this report not only looks backwards but identifies Lessons Learned to prevent Something Like this from happening again. No Law Enforcement agency or community can assume that what happens here or in newtown or in parkland or columbine cant happen in their community. That is our reality. This report offers 273 recommendations for Law Enforcement agencies and other officials. That includes a series of recommendations for Law Enforcement and Government Agencies preparing for and responding to mass shooting and active shooting incidents. In the an active shooting incident, they must provide guidance to all respond i. R. S. And triage planning as soon as possible. Law enforcement and government officials must provide timely and Accurate Information and give Community Members as much information at any given to avoid rumors, uncertainty. If an organization shares Incorrect Information with the public, it should be open about it and correct that mistake. In the days, weeks and years after a devastating attack, survivors of victim, Community Members and Law Enforcement and First Responders should continue to offer support. The Justice Department remains committed to the uvalde community. Funds are being used to support Victim Services and working with the state of texas and the uvalde to complete the for the Justice Department funding to enable fondle. And the department has awarded the local School District substantial funding through our School Violence Prevention Program to help improve School Safety and community. Before we started this review, we consulted with chiefs of police to build out a team of experts including Law Enforcement officers who led their communities through Mass Violence events. They lent their expertise to us and their commitment. The review teams were reviewing 14,000 pieces of data including policies and procedures, training logs, body camera and close circuit. And nine visits to uvalde of 54 days. And conducted interviews and individuals for more than 30 organizations and agencies including responding to family members and school and hospital staff. They traveled throughout the country to review practices and train ing courses. Other organizations and news outlets have documented what happened on this horrific day, but all of this work has led to a report that is both the most detailed a broadest in scope looking beyond the immediate and Victim Services and as well as the postincident response and investigation and preincident planning and preparation. The public demands a lot from Law Enforcement and we take their service tore granted. Every day Police Officers run towards danger to keep people safe. On may 24, 2022, that did not happen. Uvalde is a community that is on the path of healing. So are the powerful murals commemorating each child and teacher killed on may 24. And masking change to make sure it doesnt happen again. And our commitment to the you valleyed yes community does not end here. Through funding, Technical Assistance and training we will support them in their efforts to address violence. Just as we have looked back, we will look forward. We will commemorate the lives of those who were lost and make suring sure they are cared for. And i will pass this to the director. This report stresses the importance of those working relationships and how invaluable they are especially when there is a Critical Incident. The recommendations we provide is so critically important. Unfortunately, the review of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is not the first critical review. But having done this before, we know the value of the information provided. Other Critical Incidents reviews that the cops office has reviewed we heard from the agencies involved how valuable these reports are and and agencies across the country and incorporated the recommendations shared in their own planning. We have seen how vitally important to have the right policies and procedures in place, how important training is and how critical it is that agencies train together. Reviews such as this can be helpful and important to Law Enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. As they Work Together to see how to improve policies, procedures, systems and most importantly, relationships. We talk about that and much, much more in this report and will be an important resource for Law Enforcement agencies in the years to come. You in this report that the team has worked diligently in carrying out a number of critical steps including developing a complete incident reconstruction, reviewing thousands of relevant documents, conducting site visits and interviewing stakeholders. We know nothing can take away the pain that this community has endured. And providing this community with a transparent and independent review. And this report has done just that. Thank you. [indiscernible] the report is an analysis of what happened at uvalde, including by everyone at uvalde, all responding agencies and concludes this was a failure of leadership and all members of the leadership who failed were identified. It identifies individual officers by rank and by what agency theyre from and the Standard Practice of the Justice Department and critical reviews does not name those who are listed at fault and not to name those in lower ranks who acted on the scene. [indiscernible] columbine shooting on may 24. The report concludes that had Law Enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in an active shooting situation and gone right at the shooter to stop lives would have been saved and people would have survived. Based on this report, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone. Based on what you found in this report, the uvalde attorney general has filed criminal charges. I leave that question for the d. A. The Justice Department only has jurisdiction where a federal crime has dead. The shooter is dead. What we have done is respond to the mayors response and determine the manner in which the agencies responded and recommendations for the future. [indiscernible] most significant failure and most significant and urgent thing for Law Enforcement to do is active Shooter Training that provides when an active shooter is in a building or anywhere else, the First Priority is to stop that shooter and remove people who are endangered by that shooter. That requires Tactical Training and response and who is the onsite chander and making clear that that person will be the onsite commander and requires response. [indiscernible] im not sure whatt means. I think it is absolutely necessary that any circumstance where there is going to be more than one agency responding and any school situation, all the possible agencies should train together in order to accomplish lines of communication, command structure and communication structure, in particular, the radios did not have a way to talk to each other. [indiscernible] you talked about the pulse nightclub, but i will say what i described and what the report describes the generally accepted response to an active shooter. We did a survey across the country and the experts that were involved in this are experts in active shooter and no doubt that the Standard Practice. And ill let you answer that specifically. I dont know if that is entirely true. This report is comprehensive. It is extensive. And i urge you all to read it, from the executive summary, all hundreds of pages. There was an epic, complete lack of leadership, unity of command, no incident command set up. And that isnt the case with the pulse nightclub. And with this one, it entirely true and the response was a failure of leadership. Thanks everyone. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2024] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org