On May 24, 2022, a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, shook the nation. With
just two days left in the school year, a former student armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle took the
lives of 19 students and two teachers, physically injured at least 17 others. At the request of
then Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 29, 2022,
that it would conduct a Critical Incident Review (CIR) of the law enforcement response to the mass
shooting. The goal
was to “assess what happened and to provide guidance moving forward.” The CIR was led by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) with the support of
a team of subject matter experts with a wide variety of relevant experience, including emergency
management and active shooter response, incident command, tactical operations, officer safety and
wellness, public communications, and victim and family support. This report provides the results of the independent, comprehensive assessment conducted by the CIR
team. The period for collecting documents and data through this CIR was June 2022 until June 2023. To organize this comprehensive review, the team
established the following areas of focus:
• Incident Timeline Reconstruction.
• Leadership, Incident Command, and Coordination.
• Post-Incident Response and Investigation.
• Public Communications During and Following the Crisis.
• Trauma and Support Services.
• School Safety and Security.
• Pre-Incident Planning and Preparation.
Authors
- Published in
- United States of America
