Unveiled papers related to the Uvalde massacre reveal that the police chief disregarded proper training protocols.
In the wake of the Uvalde school shooting that claimed the lives of 21 innocent lives, newly released documents from the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District have shed light on an active shooter training attended by the district's Police Chief, Pete Arredondo, two months before the tragedy.
The training, titled "Stop the Killing - Solo Response to Active Shooter Events," emphasized the importance of immediate action and confronting the attacker as the first priority. Instructors stressed that time is of the essence during active shooter response, and officers should isolate, distract, or neutralize the threat, even if it means acting alone.
The training, which consisted of lectures, role plays, practical applications, and force-on-force scenarios, was designed for school-based law enforcement and was held at Uvalde High School. It also discussed the flaws in the emergency response to the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting.
However, during the actual shooting, Arredondo did not follow the guidance. According to the documents, he dropped his radio going into the school, did not effectively communicate on scene, and delayed confronting the shooter for 77 minutes while the gunman was inside adjoining classrooms. This inaction is widely criticized and was contrary to the direct instructions in the training.
The training course itself was retired after the shooting, and the Department of Justice called the guidance problematic. The training was mandated by a law passed in 2019, which required school resource officers and police to participate in an approved active shooting training within 180 days of their employment. The law was designed to prevent a similar tragedy, with a delayed law enforcement response potentially contributing to additional casualties.
The gunman, Salvador Ramos, had a documented pattern of behavioural issues in school, with at least 18 disciplinary actions between 2015 and 2018. Incidents included bullying, inappropriate language, fighting, truancy, and writing "I'm gay" on another student's artwork. Ramos' mother, Adriana Reyes, told law enforcement prior to the shooting that he could be "aggressive."
The records suggest that the flawed response was not because of a lack of training, but in spite of it. The training for first responders to active shooter scenes emphasizes placing oneself in harm's way and displaying courage to save the innocent. Arredondo is facing 10 counts of child endangerment and abandonment for his actions during the shooting. His trial is scheduled for October 2025.
- Despite the emphasis on education and self-development in active shooter training, such as the "Stop the Killing - Solo Response to Active Shooter Events," the inability of certain individuals, like Pete Arredondo, to apply learned lessons in critical situations, like the Uvalde school shooting, raises questions about general news concerning accountability in leadership roles.
- The tragedy in Uvalde, where the Police Chief's actions during the shooting were criticized as contrary to the training he received, has sparked debates in politics and general news about the effectiveness of mandatory training for school resource officers and police in crime and justice scenarios, particularly in light of the delayed response potentially contributing to additional casualties.
