Parents, Public Are Due Truth on Uvalde

By Donald Jeffries

The recent shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has left many questions, beyond how such a tragedy could possibly happen. With each new school shooting, security has been beefed up significantly at schools across the country. It is important to ask that question first: Just how did 18-year-old Salvador Ramos manage to get inside the school building?

Initially, it was reported that Ramos had been quickly apprehended after firing only briefly, with no fatalities. The mayor assured parents that all students and staff were safe inside the school. How could such a glaring mistake like that—“misinformation,” if you will—have ever been reported? It was also mentioned, in early reports, that Border Patrol agents had been chasing Ramos, and exchanged gunfire with him. Again, how could they be so inaccurate? And it was claimed that a school resource officer confronted Ramos and they exchanged gunfire as well. All of this, we were subsequently told, was untrue.

The narrative slowly developed. However, each bit of updated information just made the authorities look even worse. Ramos apparently wrecked his truck—an expensive vehicle for a teenager working at a fast-food restaurant, who we have also been told did not know how to drive. This would seemingly draw some attention, but then Ramos left the truck and began firing shots at a local funeral home and elsewhere—for 12 minutes. So, a car wreck followed by wild gunfire for 12 minutes. All of which failed to summon the attention of law enforcement.

It was claimed for days that a teacher had recklessly left a side door to the school propped open, through which Ramos entered the facility. However, now the story goes that the teacher actually slammed the door shut, but it failed to automatically lock as it should have. This teacher has never been identified, nor have any of the negligent police officers involved. No one is held accountable for these events. Left unasked is where the security camera footage is, or if the cameras were even working. This writer heard from three people in Texas who all shared the fact that Texas schools boast very tight security, with bullet proof glass, and doors that always remain locked. Parents and other visitors have to be buzzed in by staff. That seems to describe something entirely different than what we saw at Robb Elementary School.

Now we come to the actions, or rather inactions, of law enforcement. We are told that 19 police officers, maybe more, stood outside the school for an hour while the gunman was inside, shooting children. The narrative is confusing, because we’re also told that, perhaps even more inexcusably, 19 police officers went inside the school, and waited outside the classroom where Ramos was, and didn’t even attempt to break down the door.

This incomprehensible failure has been blamed on Uvalde Police Chief Peter Arredondo. Shockingly, only a few weeks before the shooting, Arredondo was elected to the City Council. Heartbreaking details about children in the classroom calling 911, and one terrified girl crying for help, and then being shot, outraged the public.

Finally, we were told, police entered the classroom after a helpful janitor brought them the key to the classroom. One would think the janitor would be readily available with a key almost instantly in such a situation. The reluctance to break down the door is unspeakably ironic given all the stories over the years of aggressive police officers kicking down the door of what is often the wrong home, during one of their unconstitutional “no knock” raids.

As if all this weren’t bad enough, we are told that the mortified parents were routed to a crisis center, where they waited as long as nine hours, until nearly midnight, to find out the fate of their children. More astoundingly, it was reported that they were subjected to DNA tests for unknown reasons.

Before they were directed to the crisis center, some parents were forcibly held back by the police officers who were standing idly by, or even tasered. One police officer, in an ultimate example of self-centeredness, rushed inside the building to save his own children.

As always following any mass casualty shooting, the focus of all media attention is on the weapon or weapons involved. The gun becomes the villain. And those who would never shoot up a school are in danger of losing their constitutional right to own firearms. The reaction from the Biden administration and all the other usual suspects was completely predictable.

But few are asking the questions that matter. Why did the narrative about what happened change so drastically? Why was school security so easy to breach? Most importantly of all, why did all those police officers fail to do anything to stop the shooter?