DOJ Will Review Police Response To Texas School Shooting

The Department of Justice will review law enforcement’s response to Tuesday’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the agency announced Sunday, after local police were criticized for not quickly confronting the shooter.

The review aims to offer an independent account of law enforcement’s actions on the day of the shooting, and will identify lessons for first responders preparing for future active shooter incidents, DOJ spokesperson Anthony Coley said in a statement.

The review was requested by Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and will be carried out by the DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office, Coley said.

The DOJ uses after-action reviews like the one launched in Uvalde to better understand how police responded to an incident: These reviews have been launched after incidents in which law enforcement’s response was exemplary as well as incidents where its response was problematic, so the launching of a review does not necessarily imply suspicion of errors or misconduct.

After-action reviews were also conducted following the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, the 2015 San Bernardino, California shooting and the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, as well as other events of mass violence.