Keystone kops searching for keys to an unlocked door
By 
The federal report about the law enforcement non-response in Uvalde is as damning as you would expect:
“Leadership in law enforcement is absolutely critical, especially in moments of dire challenge,” the report said. “It requires courageous action and steadiness in a chaotic environment. … This leadership was absent for too long in the Robb Elementary School law enforcement response.”
Minute by minute and step by step, the report traces how police officers first arrived at the school but quickly retreated in the face of gunfire, deciding to treat a gunman in a room with dozens of children as a barricaded suspect and wait for backup.
During that time, police officers spent about 40 minutes searching for a key to a classroom space that, the federal reviewers concluded, was probably unlocked the entire time. The pointless search for keys “was partly the cause of the significant delay,” the report said. Overall, local authorities were unprepared for the crisis and swamped by the demands of the day. They were alsounable to keep the crime scene clear of contamination or give families of the victims accurate information, the reviewers found.
The death notification process was “disorganized” and “chaotic,” the report said. “Family members encountered many obstacles to locating their loved ones, getting access to the hospital, and getting information from leadership, law enforcement, and hospital staff in a timely matter.”
Garland and senior Justice Department official Vanita Gupta traveled to Uvalde to meet with victims’ families and holda news conference Thursday to announce the findings. Garland described the law enforcement response in the hours and days after the shooting as “a failure.”
“As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers — many of whom had been shot — were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside,” he said.
Garland became emotional at times as he described the danger of mass shootings and what that danger means for America’s police officers.
“Our children deserve better than to grow up in a country where an 18-year-old has easy access to a weapon that belongs on a battlefield, not in a classroom,” the attorney general said. “But that is the terrible reality that we face” — one that “every law enforcement agency in every community across the country must be prepared for.”
Needless to say Garland’s bottom line is correct. Lives could have been saved by a law enforcement response that wasn’t cowardly and incompetent, but the bigger problem is any random person having access to military grade weaponry with. no legitimate civilian purpose in the first place.