Police blamed over 'wrong decision' in Texas shooting

As officials pieced together the timeline of the Uvalde shooting in which 21 people were killed in a Texas elementary school on May 24, the Texas Department of Public Safety, or Texas DPS, said that local police made the "wrong decision" not to take action for more than an hour after the 18-year-old gunman entered the school.

In a news conference on Friday, Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw said the school district police chief made the decision to wait for tactical gear and backup instead of taking action.

When the federal special team arrived on the scene, they had to get keys from a caretaker to open the locked classroom doors.

"From the benefit of hindsight, where I'm sitting now, of course it was not the right decision," McCraw said. "It was the wrong decision, period. There's no excuse for that."

"When it comes to an active shooter, you don't have to wait on tactical gear, plain and simple."

McCraw said that the very first 911 call regarding the shooter came at 11:30 am. Between 12:03 pm and 12:43 pm, numerous 911 calls for help came from the two connected classrooms in which the gunman barricaded himself inside. Meanwhile, nineteen police officers were waiting in the hallway because the district police chief thought it was better to wait for a tactical team.

People have criticized law enforcement officials for their inaction in dealing with the killer. Parents told of some people being tasered or handcuffed by officers－including with videos－when they tried to get into the school to help their children because they saw no action after begging the police to confront the shooter. A DPS official said that the state troopers did so to keep the parents safe in line with directions from the local command.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who had initially praised the local police's handling of the event, said he was "misled" in a law enforcement briefing.

Investigation continues

"I am livid about what happened," said Abbott, an avid gun rights advocate who in September passed a permitless carry law that allows Texas residents to legally carry handguns in public without any training or license. He said state and federal officers will further investigate the matter.

Abbott abandoned a plan to attend a three-day annual meeting of the National Rifle Association that started on Friday in Houston. A few other politicians, including Senator John Cornyn of Texas, also pulled out.

Most musicians that were scheduled to perform at the NRA meeting decided not to go, resulting in a concert being canceled.

Don McLean, best known for his songs American Pie and Vincent, made a statement on Thursday: "In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week."

However, former president Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz stuck to their original plan to speak at the NRA meeting. They insisted that gun-control measures are not the answer to preventing the kind of tragedy that occurred in Uvalde.

"The existence of evil in our world is not a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens," said Trump. "The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens."

Cruz opposes calls for universal background checks for gun purchases and bans on assault-style weapons. Instead, he pointed the finger at broken families, declining church attendance, social media bullying and video games as the real factors behind mass shootings.

"Tragedies like the event of this week are a mirror forcing us to ask hard questions, demanding that we see where our culture is failing," he said. "We must not react to evil and tragedy by abandoning the Constitution or infringing on the rights of our law-abiding citizens."

While the NRA annual meeting was in session, thousands of people gathered outside the venue in downtown Houston to denounce the organization and demand some form of gun control.

Protesters shouted "shame on you" to NRA members going in and out of the meeting.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, former congressman and Democratic candidate for Texas governor Beto O'Rourke and other officials attended the rally.