Texas Official Says Classroom Door Was Unlocked During Uvalde Shooting: ‘A Key That Was Never Needed’

A top Texas official is describing the police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, as an “abject failure.”

Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, testified during a Texas Senate committee hearing, “There is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre.”

“Three minutes after the suspect entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract, and neutralize the subject,” he continued.

McCraw added, “The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111, and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”

“One hour, fourteen minutes, and eight seconds. That’s how long the children waited, and the teachers waited in room 111 to be rescued. And while they waited, the on-scene commander waited for radio and rifles, then he waited for shields, then he waited for S.W.A.T. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed,” McCraw testified.- READ MORE