Report: Uvalde teachers and students correctly followed their live-shooter training, but officers weren't prepared

The 21 people who died on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School.
(Courtesy photos, the Families via ABC News, Reuters, AP)

It was May 24, 2022, when Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and began shooting his AR-15-style rifle into classrooms. In the first four minutes, Ramos fired over 100 rounds that echoed throughout the building.

Surviving teachers and students knew they were targets, and instinctively followed their live-shooter training protocols. "They dropped to the floor, crouching under desks and countertops, far from the windows. . . . A few grabbed bloodied phones and dialed 911. . . . And as students across the country have been instructed for years, they remained quiet, impossibly quiet. . . and waited, report Lomi Kriel, Lexi Churchill and Jinitzail Hernández, co-authors from ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Responding to 911 calls, "Hundreds of law enforcement officers descended on Robb Elementary School. They, too, waited. They waited for someone, anyone, to tell them what to do."

Once in the school, law enforcement waited for more than an hour to act. "They waited for the right keys and specialized equipment to open doors. They waited out of fear that the lack of ballistic shields and flash-bangs would leave them vulnerable against the power of an AR-15-style rifle. Most astonishingly, they waited for the children's cries to confirm that people were still alive inside the classrooms," according to the report. In total, 376 law enforcement officers responded, according to an investigation from the Texas House of Representatives.

After an exhaustive number of investigative interviews, listening, and watching hundreds of hours of video and body camera footage, the reporters from ProPublica, The Texas Tribune, and Frontline came to a conclusion. They write: "The children in Uvalde were prepared, dutifully following what they had learned during active shooter drills, even as their friends and teachers were bleeding to death. Many officers, who had trained at least once during their careers for such a situation, were not."

America has become a country where "mass shootings have become a fact of life, with at least 120 since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting," they write. "Debates often erupt along partisan lines as anguished communities demand change. . . . One thing that seemingly unites all sides is the notion of better training for law enforcement. But, in actuality, few laws exist requiring such instruction. . . . A nationwide analysis by the news organizations shows states require far more training to prepare students and teachers for a mass shooting than they do for the police who are expected to protect them."