On January 18, 2024, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland released the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) report Critical Incident Review: Active Shooter at Robb Elementary School, which provides a wide-ranging and thorough assessment of the law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which took the lives of 19 children and two teachers.

The detailed report of the critical incident review, which was led by the USDOJ Office of Community Policing Services (COPS Office) and initialized shortly after the tragedy of May 24, 2022, provides the most comprehensive assessment available—not only of the law enforcement response but also of the emergency medical response, communications, and trauma services related to it, among many others.

Beginning with a minute-by-minute timeline reconstructing key events before, during, and immediately following the shooting, the report addresses many previously unanswered questions. And by building on the widely acknowledged generally accepted standards and practices for effective response to incidents of mass violence, it clearly identifies those that were not followed.

An exhaustive review of all aspects of the tragedy before and during, as well as after it happened

Comprehensive in coverage, the report provides a detailed accounting and critical assessment of what transpired in the days and months leading up to the shooting, the immediate responder actions, the reactions and survivor, family, responder, and community support services following in the aftermath, and the efforts since then to address and improve upon the deficiencies that led to the tragedy.

The critical incident review was led by a team from the COPS Office with the support of leading subject matter experts, who focused on the following areas:

1. Incident timeline reconstruction
2. Tactics and equipment
3. Leadership, incident command, and coordination
4. Post-incident response and investigation
5. Public communications during and following the crisis
6. Trauma and support services
7. School safety and security
8. Pre-incident planning and preparation

The team collected and reviewed more than 14,000 pieces of data and documentation, including policies, training logs, body camera and closed-circuit television (CCTV) video footage, audio recordings, photographs, personnel records, manuals and standard operating procedures, interview transcripts, investigative files and data, and other documents.

They also spent a cumulative 54 days onsite in Uvalde and interviewed more than 260 individuals who either played a role or had important information related to areas of the review. Those interviewed included the following:

• Personnel from the responding law enforcement agencies
• School personnel
• Elected and appointed government officials
• Communications professionals and public information officers
• Family members of the victims and survivors
• Hospital staff
• Other first responders and medical personnel
• Adult survivors and other witnesses
• Victim services providers

The report examines the multiple deficiencies in the response to the tragedy, including the breakdowns in leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training that contributed to those failures. In doing so, it describes the responding officers’ most significant failure as treating the incident throughout as a barricaded subject (rather than active shooter) situation and not employing the available resources and equipment to push forward immediately and eliminate the threat.

Intended to honor the victims and prevent other failures of response

Also examined are the communications challenges during and after the shooting, including the inaccurate initial narrative. It also documents the trauma and support services that were available to victims, survivors, family members, and responders—as well as those that were not.

In assessing the tragedy and reporting the facts surrounding the failed response, this report endeavors to honor the victims and survivors of this tragedy while also offering recommendations to improve future responses in other communities.

In the words of Attorney General Garland, “We hope to honor the victims and survivors by working together to try to prevent anything like this from happening again, here or anywhere.”

The Critical Incident Review: Active Shooter at Robb Elementary School report, including profiles of the victims and additional resources, is available in both English and Spanish on the COPS Office website.

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