The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) released guidance for how it wants officers to respond to an active shooter threat as a new school year kicks off in Uvalde.
DPS officers made up some of the reported 376 law enforcement agents from multiple agencies that responded to the Robb Elementary shooting on May 24. It was revealed Tuesday that five of those DPS officers will face an investigation to determine if they violated any policies in the response and weigh potential disciplinary action.
The clarified DPS instructions were included in a letter from July and require officers to treat anyone who fires a weapon at a school as “an active shooter until he is neutralized.” The letter also instructs officers to never treat an active shooter as a “barricaded subject,” according to Statesman and KVUE investigative reporter Tony Plohetski.
Also, DPS has released a letter from July in which DPS officers have been instructed that they should treat any person who fires a weapon at a school "remains an active shooter until he is neutralized." That person can never be treated as a "barricaded subject." (3/3)
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) September 6, 2022
Uvalde students and teachers returned to class Tuesday, a later-than-usual start for the district as it focused on beefing up security measures at all campuses before the beginning of the school year, ABC affiliate KVUE reported. The district installed 8-foot non-scalable fences and added security cameras. Dozens of law enforcement officers will also be deployed to each campus, according to the outlet.
Immediately following the tragedy, the DPS and the federal government launched investigations into the local police response to identify what went wrong and how law enforcement can respond better in the future.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” said DOJ spokesman Anthony Coley, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing.”
Law enforcement officials have faced continued criticism for failures in their response to the active shooter threat. Officers responding to the shooting at Robb Elementary School waited outside the classroom for over an hour as the 18-year-old lone gunman murdered children and teachers inside.
Former Uvalde CISD Chief Pete Arredondo, who was one of the first officials on scene after the shooter entered the school, was fired by the Uvalde school board late last month. Community members reportedly reacted with applause when the board announced its unanimous decision to fire Arredondo.