The Sources Documenting the Failures. This Isn't a Gun Control Issue. It's a Societal Failure.
It is increasingly clear the story from Uvalde, TX has changed as more facts are out. Now, we need to move on from gun control, which lacks Senate votes, to school safety, school architecture, school failures, and law enforcement failures. Instead of a long post today, here are the links to the relevant stories and you can read them instead of having to take my word for it.
The shooter had mental health issues including cutting his face up. Source.
The shooter shot his gun outside the school for twelve minutes. Source.
The shooter entered the school and no security guard was present nor tried to stop him. Source:
Notably, this is a major shift from even what I reported yesterday. Yesterday, press reports were that the school security officer did not stop the shooter. Now we know there was no school security officer present.
The police who went inside took no action against the shooter because they were afraid they’d get shot. They waited for a tactical unit. Source.
The tactical unit took almost an hour to show up. Source.
Police outside the school pepper-sprayed, tased, and arrested parents trying to get in to save their kids. Source.
Police called out to kids to reveal their hiding positions, allowing the gunman to fire on the kids. Then they lied about the timeline. Source.
The delayed police response cost the lives of children. Source.
Parents pleaded with the police to storm the school. Source.
Lots more in this Twitter thread here including that the police waited outside for at least thirty-five minutes:
And this video:
We do not know how an unemployed eighteen-year-old could afford the rifles and ammo. I have a Daniel Defense rifle. They are not cheap. Where did he get the money?
Why was there no school police officer and why did initial reports claim there was a police officer?
This is a failure of the police. This is a failure of the school. This is a failure of society in letting a young man grow up that way, cut his face repeatedly, and walk into a school to kill kids.
This is not a story about gun control. This is a story about failure. The conversation needs to shift. There are not enough votes for gun control. There are plenty of votes for armed personnel at schools, increased funding for school mental health counselors, etc. But are Democrats willing to put those up for a vote?
This is heartbreaking. Massive failure of our society to protect our greatest asset: the future of our country. CRT???? LGBTQ??? How about just keeping them safe and ensuring that they can read, write and communicate with others.
Everyone needs to remember this is a community of 16,000 people. The police force probably has no more than 10-15 officers TOTAL and the closest tactical team was at least one hour away (San Antonio). We can all sit in our metro areas and pontificate how bad the police response was, but those of us who are from/live in rural America understand the situation the local police were in. Don’t you think they’re second guessing themselves? Of course they are!! These kids and adults were friends neighbors and family.. these officers will never, ever recover from this and them getting beat up from pontificators from the outside doesn’t help the situation.
There will be lessons to be learned but for now, don’t beat these guys up.. unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, just stay quiet. Report the facts but don’t judge.
Having said all of this, I’d like to know how the shooter for the money for the weapons. I’m familiar with that rifle and not it’s not an inexpensive rifl.