UVALDE, Texas — On Tuesday, May 24, a gunman walked into the school, barricaded himself inside a classroom then over an hour killed 19 students and 2 teachers, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Initial reports from officials were that law enforcement acted quickly, however, an updated timeline released by DPS several days later shows officers waited more than an hour outside the classroom while students inside repeatedly called 911.
On Sunday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin asked the Department of Justice for what’s called a Critical Incident Review.
Tony Leal, president of PPI Security and retired Chief of the Texas Rangers, provided some insight into what the review entails and what could come out of it.
“You [the DOJ] are asking the questions, what did we do right, what did we do wrong and what could we do better?” explained Leal, adding that typically recommendations commonly come out of these reviews but they come without funding.
“So, they will tell a city or county or whoever asked for the review, ‘these are the things that you need to put in place’ and it’s up to a mayor or city manager, or city Council to fund those recommendations.”
According to Leal, the reviews could lead to disciplinary action or charges being filed, typically within the state or federally if any federal laws may have been broken.
An example of this kind of review came after the death of Freddie Gray in Maryland which prompted nationwide protests.
On April 12, 2015, Gray was arrested and loaded into a police van that drove him around for about 40 minutes before arriving at the Baltimore Police station. When police went to take him out of the van, he was unresponsive.
Doctors determined Gray's neck had been broken in a severe spinal cord injury. He died seven days later.
A 2016 DOJ report showed unconstitutional practices by Baltimore’s Police Department had spanned decades and public officials vowed sweeping changes.
But for Texans hoping for answers from the Robb Elementary review, Leal says the review could take months or even years to complete.