Ultimately, the shooter was able to easily scale the fence and enter the school through a series of unlocked doors. The teacher, Arnulfo Reyes, was shot twice in the shooting but survived. In March, the teacher in Room 111, through which investigators believe the shooter entered during the massacre, reported to school administrators that his classroom door “was not always locking.” The head custodian testified he never heard of any problems with that door, and maintenance records during the school year do not contain any work orders for it. “In fact, the school actually suggested circumventing the locks as a solution for the convenience of substitute teachers and others who lacked their own keys,” the report said. Or they might have urged officers to find another way to get inside the classroom. They might have found a master key to the school faster to get inside the classroom where the shooter was barricaded - or suggested checking to make sure the door was locked. The report listed several ways that an effective incident commander outside the school might have helped: The commander might have noticed that radios weren’t working well and found a better way to communicate.
Several described the scene as “chaos” or a “cluster.” In interviews conducted or obtained by the committee, police officers said they assumed Arredondo was in command or did not know who was in charge. They stemmed not from a lack of manpower, but from an absence of leadership and effective communications. The report lists myriad law enforcement mistakes, which expanded far beyond any single commander or agency. “They failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety,” the committee said in its report. At its core, the committee report echoes criticisms made previously by police tactics experts: that instead of following the doctrine developed after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, which dictates that officers immediately confront active shooters, police at Robb Elementary retreated after coming under fire and then waited for backup. The failure of police to quickly subdue the shooter has faced widespread public condemnation and criticism from fellow law enforcement officials. “The Committee issues this interim report now, believing the victims, their families, and the entire Uvalde community have already waited too long for answers and transparency,” the report reads. They dedicated the document to the 21 people killed in the shooting and first unveiled their findings during a private meeting with Uvalde residents on Sunday. The trio also sought to present an accurate narrative to the public, in contrast to several conflicting and retracted accounts provided by other officials, including the governor and state police, in the seven weeks since the tragedy that have undermined residents’ trust in the ongoing investigations. Joe Moody, D-El Paso and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman - said they sought to create a comprehensive account the Legislature can use to craft policies aimed at preventing future massacres. The group was devoid of clear leadership, basic communications and sufficient urgency to take down the gunman, the report says. In total, 376 law enforcement officers - a force larger than the garrison that defended the Alamo - descended upon the school in a chaotic, uncoordinated scene that lasted for more than an hour. It explains how the gunman, who investigators believe had never fired a gun before May 24, was able to stockpile military-style rifles, accessories and ammunition without arousing suspicion from authorities, then enter a supposedly secure school unimpeded and indiscriminately kill children and adults. The 77-page report, reviewed by The Texas Tribune, provides a damning portrayal of a family unable to recognize warning signs, a school district that had strayed from strict adherence to its safety plan and a police response that disregarded its own active shooter training. A year before Uvalde shooting, gunman had threatened women, carried around a dead cat and been nicknamed “school shooter”
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