Committee debunks report officer had Uvalde gunman in crosshairs before he entered school
The special committee investigating the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, dismissed a report that a police officer had an opportunity to shoot the gunman before he entered the school.
2022-07-19 19:51:21 - VI News Staff
The joint committee of the Texas Legislature, which released the findings of its investigation on Sunday of the May 24 massacre, found that a Uvalde police officer did not have the gunman in the crosshairs of his rifle scope before he entered the school.
Instead, the committee found that the officer was aiming at a school coach helping students get out of harm's way and that the cop mistaking the coach for the suspect had requested permission to pull the trigger from his sergeant, who hesitated when he saw children in the line of fire, according to the committee.
The initial account that the officer had an opportunity to shoot the gunman outside the school -- widely covered by news media outlets, including ABC News -- was part of an assessment of the police response made public on July 6 by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University in San Marcos.
"A reasonable officer would conclude in this case, based upon the totality of the circumstances, that use of deadly force was warranted," the training center report said. It noted that had the situation "worked out differently," the officer could have "stopped the tragedy that followed."