Just nine weeks before Tuesday’s mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the city’s police force hosted a class on how to respond to active shooters — a class that, it appears, none of their officers took to heart.
Taught by the SWTJC Law Enforcement Academy, the class covered topics such as the “history of active shooter events, ” the “training requirements” for dealing with such a scenario, how to “stop the killing” via a “solo response,” how to “stop the killing” via a “unified response,” and “active shooter scenario training.”
Proof of this class was discovered by Stephen Gutowski, the founder of TheReload.com, a pro-Second Amendment website that offers “fair and discerning reporting on firearms and how they intersect with politics.”
Gutowski found an online pamphlet from SWTJC Law Enforcement Academy that listed the Uvalde Police Department (UPD) as the class’s “host”:
It appears there was an active shooter class hosted by the Uvalde Police Department on Match 21, 2022. Here is the ad for the class that was posted on the Southwest Texas Junior College Law Enforcement Academy Facebook page on March 1st. https://t.co/sSCpqMKSvP pic.twitter.com/qzskmKF7cP
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 28, 2022
The next day they posted the class was full. There don’t appear to be any other updates about the training posted on the Southwest Texas Junior College Law Enforcement Academy Facebook page. https://t.co/6LFVv8YEbH pic.twitter.com/h083xUQRto
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 28, 2022
What’s known is that the class was quickly filled and that “peace officers,” “school resource officers,” and “campus security officers” were all encouraged to attend.
What remains unknown is how many, if any, UPD officers attended the event. As to those who did attend the event, did they even pay attention?
According to separate reporting from Mike Baker of The New York Times, the training documents covered during the class are extremely damning.
They explicitly state that an “[o]fficer’s first priority is to move in and confront the attacker,” even if this means “bypassing the injured and not responding to cries for help from children.”
But UPD officers did the exact opposite, instead choosing to first evacuate children — including their own — rather than engage the shooter, Salvador Ramos.
The Uvalde training session 2 months ago relied on guidelines that give explicit expectations for officers responding to an active shooter.
The training is clear: Time is of the essence. The “first priority is to move in and confront the attacker.” https://t.co/UV5I33bFhi
3/9 pic.twitter.com/7IuKw1lnMi
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) May 28, 2022
The documents also strongly advise against waiting for a tactical team, arguing that “[t]he short duration and high casualty rates produced by these events requires immediate response to reduce the loss of life.”
“In many cases that immediate response means a single (solo) officer response until such times as other forces can arrive. The best hope that innocent victims have is that officers immediately move into action to isolate, distract or neutralize the threat, even if that means one officer acting alone,” the documents continue.
Yet according to the latest reports, not only did UPD officers avoid engaging Ramos, they did so despite there reportedly being 19 officers present.
During a press conference Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw “said at one point there were as many as 19 officers in the hallway outside the classrooms where the gunman had locked himself inside with students and teachers,” as reported by The Texas Tribune.
But how should officers confront the gunman? With a tactical team? The training says that’s probably not feasible, because the urgency is so high.
A SINGLE OFFICER, the training says, may need to confront the suspect on their own.
4/9 pic.twitter.com/he8A49apFl
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) May 28, 2022
Finally, the documents make it clear that active shooter scenarios require “courage,” and that those who lack it should seek work elsewhere.
“First responders to the active shooter scene will usually be required to place themselves in harm’s way and display uncommon acts of courage to save the innocent. First responders must understand and accept the role of ‘Protector’ and be prepared to meet violence with controlled aggression,” the documents read.
“The Priority of Life Scale is used to guide first responders during the critical decision making process that is required to effectively neutralize any threats. As first responders we must recognize that innocent life must be defended. A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field.”
The guidelines provide sobering clarity: The first officers may be risking their lives. But, it says, innocent lives take priority.
“A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field.”
5/9 pic.twitter.com/tQCcODkfTa
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) May 28, 2022
As of Saturday morning, the hashtag #UvaldePoliceCowards was trending on Twitter.
Look:
Every officer that refused to do their job while babies were murdered, should be charged with a crime just like medical professionals who refuse to help an injured person. Dereliction of duty. #UvaldePoliceCowards
— L. Taylor Roberts (@rockand3reasons) May 28, 2022
The Uvalde Mayor needs to resign.
The Police Chief needs to resign.
Those officers that stood around and LISTENED while children were slaughtered need to be charged.
Those officers that rescued their OWN children and let the others die need to be charged.#UvaldePoliceCowards
— Paul Cowling (@PaulTheActor) May 26, 2022
The #UvaldePoliceCowards are a special kind of evil. They willingly let the kids and teachers be massacred and forced the parents to listen to the pleas and screaming of their terrified and helpless babies from inside while they were pinned down and tasered outside. Monsters all!
— Trevor “Trev” McKee Achilles 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@MrTAchilles) May 27, 2022
They heard shots, and knew 911 calls were made by kids begging for help. But, 19 grown ass men with guns took cover and refused to stop a killer from terrorizing and murdering 10 year olds for an hour. This is a pathetic dereliction of duty.#FreshWords#UvaldePoliceCowards
— Southern Sister Resister – Wordsmith #IAmTheStorm (@ResisterSis20) May 27, 2022
As previously reported, the attack didn’t end until a courageous team of U.S. Border Patrol agents bypassed the UPD’s orders to not intervene and decided to storm the classroom in which Ramos had barricaded himself.
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