Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said Sunday he is “disgusted” by the police response to the Uvalde elementary school shooting, adding that said it is possible that wounded children died because officers waited in the hallway instead of rushing into the classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself with children calling 911.
The Democratic lawmaker said there is evidence that one child was shot through the kidney area and bled out, raising questions about the consequences of the delayed response.
“That little girl might have lived,” Mr. Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
President Biden is visiting Uvalde on Sunday to attend church and meet with victims’ families after an 18-year-old shooter killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.
Grief over the shootings is paired with anger over the police response. Officers did not enter the classroom until 78 minutes after the shooter had entered the school, as on-scene commanders determined they faced a barricaded subject and not an active shooter. Yet children were inside calling the police for help — and some, as the state senator said, were wounded.
“These mistakes may have led to the passing away of these children as well,” Mr. Gutierrez said.
He said police training called for the officers to get into the classroom immediately instead of waiting for a key to the room.
“The whole thing is a shame. I’m disgusted by all of it,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “At the end of the day, the protocols were breached.”
“So many things went wrong here,” the senator said. “I’m asking a lot of questions.”
Mr. Gutierrez said he plans to press Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers to pass stricter rules on gun sales. He cited red-flag provisions that can thwart dangerous people from obtaining weapons and longer waiting periods around purchases that allow for extensive background checks or a cooling-off period for people who buy guns in anger.
“I just cannot do this anymore, it is just heartbreaking,” Mr. Gutierrez said. “We failed these children.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.