# “He Has a Battle Rifle”: Uvalde Police Waited to Enter Classroom, Fearing Firepower From Gunman’s AR-15  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Zach Despart]] - Full Title:: “He Has a Battle Rifle”: Uvalde Police Waited to Enter Classroom, Fearing Firepower From Gunman’s AR-15 - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.propublica.org/article/uvalde-police-gunman-ar-15-delays?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river ## Highlights > Once they saw a torrent of bullets tear through a classroom wall and metal door, the first police officers in the hallway of Robb Elementary School concluded they were outgunned. And that they could die. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz23r2ty0tm6bx87vnqj70c)) > People have blamed cowardice or poor leadership or a lack of sufficient training for why police waited more than an hour to breach the classroom and subdue an amateur 18-year-old adversary. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz24vh1hjagzvcz90gjxmzm)) > But in their own words, during and after their botched response, the officers pointed to another reason: They were unwilling to confront the rifle on the other side of the door. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz254dxh3z5fbncyv685cfq)) > We weren’t equipped to make entry into that room without several casualties,” Uvalde Police Department Detective Louis Landry said in a separate investigative interview. He added, “Once we found out it was a rifle he was using, it was a different game plan we would have had to come up with. It wasn’t just going in guns blazing, the Old West style, and take him out.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz26nx7eq36p494caqqax43)) > Mass shooting protocols [adopted](https://alerrt.org/r/16) by law enforcement nationwide call on officers to stop the attacker as soon as possible. But police in other mass shootings — including at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida — also hesitated to confront gunmen armed with AR-15-style rifles. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz27xck0wy6fp2r9g0k2dmq)) > Even if the law enforcement response had been flawless and police had immediately stopped the gunman, the death toll in Uvalde still would have been significant. Investigators concluded most victims were killed in the minutes before police arrived ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz287bm3sybgr69f205391t)) > A [comprehensive and scathing report](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/17/law-enforcement-failure-uvalde-shooting-investigation/) of law enforcement’s response to the shooting, released by a Texas House investigative committee chaired by Republican [Rep. Dustin Burrows](https://www.texastribune.org/directory/dustin-burrows/) in July, made no mention of the comments by law enforcement officers in interviews that illustrated trepidation about the AR ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz29134rwcfbv0n6yeg02et)) #### A Weapon of War > rifle. > “I knew too it wasn’t a pistol. ... I was like, ‘Shit, it’s a rifle,’” he said. He added, “The way he was shooting, he was probably going to take all of us out.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2dwpv4abche8fez4csqwz)) > The Defense Department report detailed this effect in plainer language, describing the AR-15’s performance in a firefight with Viet Cong at a range of 50 meters: “One man was shot in the head; it looked like it exploded. A second man was hit in the chest; his back was one big hole.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2ew7pr9cbmr9rn2f8v995)) > In two and a half minutes, before any police officer set foot inside the school, the gunman fired more than 100 rounds at students and teachers from point-blank range ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2g5ssd3w1fa7my7pg833j)) > Several victims lost large portions of their heads, photos taken by investigators show ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2gagxnwt151r7zxzy6drt)) > Bullets tore gashes in flesh as long as a foot ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2gffjmc11j62d8x8vy7g4)) > blasted a hole the size of a baseball in another’s hip ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2gxhkjmnvfvmrwycr9c57)) > Other rounds penetrated the wall of Room 111, passed through the empty Room 110, punctured another wall and wounded a student and teacher in Room 109, who survived. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2h9pkrnv1th8n2yc4xd1h)) #### Rifle Popularity Surges > You get people that never served in the military or law enforcement, and yet they’re wannabes,” Torres said. “They purchase this weapons system, not having a clue how to use it, the type of power and the level of maturity needed to even operate it.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2jrctb4w7qgs5d8270fdn)) > As it grew more popular with the public, the rifle also became more popular with mass shooters. AR-15-style rifles weren’t used in any mass shootings until 2007, according to the [mass shooting database](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/) maintained by Mother Jones, which includes indiscriminate killings of at least three people in public places, excluding crimes that stem from robbery, gang activity or other conventionally explained motives. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2m79mp4nc39br3ebaz1gp)) #### The Gunman’s Purchase > Little is known about what motivated the shooter in Uvalde or why he targeted the elementary school he once attended. But signs of planning, and a fixation on guns, stretched back months. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2n27z1zdmvrtnk17q8ern)) > A lawsuit filed by Uvalde victims’ families against Daniel Defense alleges the gunmaker’s marketing intentionally targets vulnerable young men driven by military fantasies. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2pjd08xbk98sx4hd7y5zm)) > He had broken no laws. He had aroused no suspicion with authorities. And, like many mass shooters, he had given no public warning about his plan. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2s07ct2shm3gt588nhwdw)) #### When Other Officers Hesitated > Yet even beyond Uvalde, the performance of police against active shooters with AR-15-style rifles — which were rarely used in mass shootings when the standards were developed — is inconsistent. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2vhmxwrkw8qjh9dgfc8c0)) > Since 1982, AR-15-style rifles have been used in 30 mass shootings — their use significantly rising after the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. In 2022, 67% of mass shootings involved at least one AR-15-style weapon. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2vwgtr7zx8yzsydfr3qct)) > The extreme stress the body experiences in a gunfight slows critical thinking and motor skills, said Massad Ayoob, a police firearms trainer since the 1970s. Officers can overcome this with repeated training that is as realistic as possible, he said. Without it, they are more likely to freeze or retreat. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2xmk80a9ejqc32hm20tes)) > The extreme stress the body experiences in a gunfight slows critical thinking and motor skills, said Massad Ayoob, a police firearms trainer since the 1970s. Officers can overcome this with repeated training that is as realistic as possible, he said. Without it, they are more likely to freeze or retreat. > “Have you ever been in a firefight? Have you ever been in a situation where you were about to die?” said Kevin Lawrence, a law enforcement officer for 40 years and the executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association. “None of us knows how we’re going to react to that circumstance until we’re in it.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2y120zz1f678q4vsxdt74)) > Improved training that reinforces the expectation that police immediately confront active shooters would improve the likelihood that they do so, said Jimmy Perdue, president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association. But because they attack at random locations and times, he said it is unrealistic to expect that all 800,000 law enforcement officers in the United States would be prepared. That rifles like the AR-15 are especially lethal, he acknowledged, adds an additional mental obstacle for officers. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2yscd95jv3vbf3xfq0e59)) #### Resistance to Gun Control > Both actions potentially saved lives. But they failed to prevent the murders of 47 people. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz30mppq63gtfvgem56k4y3)) # “He Has a Battle Rifle”: Uvalde Police Waited to Enter Classroom, Fearing Firepower From Gunman’s AR-15  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Zach Despart]] - Full Title:: “He Has a Battle Rifle”: Uvalde Police Waited to Enter Classroom, Fearing Firepower From Gunman’s AR-15 - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.propublica.org/article/uvalde-police-gunman-ar-15-delays?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river ## Highlights > Once they saw a torrent of bullets tear through a classroom wall and metal door, the first police officers in the hallway of Robb Elementary School concluded they were outgunned. And that they could die. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz23r2ty0tm6bx87vnqj70c)) > People have blamed cowardice or poor leadership or a lack of sufficient training for why police waited more than an hour to breach the classroom and subdue an amateur 18-year-old adversary. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz24vh1hjagzvcz90gjxmzm)) > But in their own words, during and after their botched response, the officers pointed to another reason: They were unwilling to confront the rifle on the other side of the door. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz254dxh3z5fbncyv685cfq)) > We weren’t equipped to make entry into that room without several casualties,” Uvalde Police Department Detective Louis Landry said in a separate investigative interview. He added, “Once we found out it was a rifle he was using, it was a different game plan we would have had to come up with. It wasn’t just going in guns blazing, the Old West style, and take him out.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz26nx7eq36p494caqqax43)) > Mass shooting protocols [adopted](https://alerrt.org/r/16) by law enforcement nationwide call on officers to stop the attacker as soon as possible. But police in other mass shootings — including at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida — also hesitated to confront gunmen armed with AR-15-style rifles. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz27xck0wy6fp2r9g0k2dmq)) > Even if the law enforcement response had been flawless and police had immediately stopped the gunman, the death toll in Uvalde still would have been significant. Investigators concluded most victims were killed in the minutes before police arrived ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz287bm3sybgr69f205391t)) > A [comprehensive and scathing report](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/17/law-enforcement-failure-uvalde-shooting-investigation/) of law enforcement’s response to the shooting, released by a Texas House investigative committee chaired by Republican [Rep. Dustin Burrows](https://www.texastribune.org/directory/dustin-burrows/) in July, made no mention of the comments by law enforcement officers in interviews that illustrated trepidation about the AR ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz29134rwcfbv0n6yeg02et)) #### A Weapon of War > rifle. > “I knew too it wasn’t a pistol. ... I was like, ‘Shit, it’s a rifle,’” he said. He added, “The way he was shooting, he was probably going to take all of us out.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2dwpv4abche8fez4csqwz)) > The Defense Department report detailed this effect in plainer language, describing the AR-15’s performance in a firefight with Viet Cong at a range of 50 meters: “One man was shot in the head; it looked like it exploded. A second man was hit in the chest; his back was one big hole.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2ew7pr9cbmr9rn2f8v995)) > In two and a half minutes, before any police officer set foot inside the school, the gunman fired more than 100 rounds at students and teachers from point-blank range ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2g5ssd3w1fa7my7pg833j)) > Several victims lost large portions of their heads, photos taken by investigators show ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2gagxnwt151r7zxzy6drt)) > Bullets tore gashes in flesh as long as a foot ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2gffjmc11j62d8x8vy7g4)) > blasted a hole the size of a baseball in another’s hip ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2gxhkjmnvfvmrwycr9c57)) > Other rounds penetrated the wall of Room 111, passed through the empty Room 110, punctured another wall and wounded a student and teacher in Room 109, who survived. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2h9pkrnv1th8n2yc4xd1h)) #### Rifle Popularity Surges > You get people that never served in the military or law enforcement, and yet they’re wannabes,” Torres said. “They purchase this weapons system, not having a clue how to use it, the type of power and the level of maturity needed to even operate it.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2jrctb4w7qgs5d8270fdn)) > As it grew more popular with the public, the rifle also became more popular with mass shooters. AR-15-style rifles weren’t used in any mass shootings until 2007, according to the [mass shooting database](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/) maintained by Mother Jones, which includes indiscriminate killings of at least three people in public places, excluding crimes that stem from robbery, gang activity or other conventionally explained motives. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2m79mp4nc39br3ebaz1gp)) #### The Gunman’s Purchase > Little is known about what motivated the shooter in Uvalde or why he targeted the elementary school he once attended. But signs of planning, and a fixation on guns, stretched back months. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2n27z1zdmvrtnk17q8ern)) > A lawsuit filed by Uvalde victims’ families against Daniel Defense alleges the gunmaker’s marketing intentionally targets vulnerable young men driven by military fantasies. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2pjd08xbk98sx4hd7y5zm)) > He had broken no laws. He had aroused no suspicion with authorities. And, like many mass shooters, he had given no public warning about his plan. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2s07ct2shm3gt588nhwdw)) #### When Other Officers Hesitated > Yet even beyond Uvalde, the performance of police against active shooters with AR-15-style rifles — which were rarely used in mass shootings when the standards were developed — is inconsistent. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2vhmxwrkw8qjh9dgfc8c0)) > Since 1982, AR-15-style rifles have been used in 30 mass shootings — their use significantly rising after the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. In 2022, 67% of mass shootings involved at least one AR-15-style weapon. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2vwgtr7zx8yzsydfr3qct)) > The extreme stress the body experiences in a gunfight slows critical thinking and motor skills, said Massad Ayoob, a police firearms trainer since the 1970s. Officers can overcome this with repeated training that is as realistic as possible, he said. Without it, they are more likely to freeze or retreat. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2xmk80a9ejqc32hm20tes)) > The extreme stress the body experiences in a gunfight slows critical thinking and motor skills, said Massad Ayoob, a police firearms trainer since the 1970s. Officers can overcome this with repeated training that is as realistic as possible, he said. Without it, they are more likely to freeze or retreat. > “Have you ever been in a firefight? Have you ever been in a situation where you were about to die?” said Kevin Lawrence, a law enforcement officer for 40 years and the executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association. “None of us knows how we’re going to react to that circumstance until we’re in it.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2y120zz1f678q4vsxdt74)) > Improved training that reinforces the expectation that police immediately confront active shooters would improve the likelihood that they do so, said Jimmy Perdue, president of the Texas Police Chiefs Association. But because they attack at random locations and times, he said it is unrealistic to expect that all 800,000 law enforcement officers in the United States would be prepared. That rifles like the AR-15 are especially lethal, he acknowledged, adds an additional mental obstacle for officers. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz2yscd95jv3vbf3xfq0e59)) #### Resistance to Gun Control > Both actions potentially saved lives. But they failed to prevent the murders of 47 people. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gwz30mppq63gtfvgem56k4y3))