EDITORIAL: The cops stood around while children were massacred

The early release of a videotape that documents the law enforcement response — or lack thereof — to the horrific May school shooting in the small Texas town of Uvalde has angered state and local officials and reopened the wounds of the families who lost loved ones.

But let’s not lose sight of the real issue: the utter failure of police on the scene to do their jobs and act in the face of a deranged gunman intent on killing innocent children.

The Austin American-Statesman this week published a disturbing 77-minute video of the scene as the tragedy unfolds. This understandably upset many family members of victims, who had been told by a state legislative committee investigating the shooting that they would be allowed to view the footage first.

The debate over the timing of the video’s release aside, the contents reveal in real time the deadly consequences of police inaction.

The video shows how three armed officers made their way through the school hallway after the gunman entered a classroom and began shooting. But instead of storming the classroom, they retreated to the end of the hall.

The heartbreaking video “captured from this vantage point, along with body camera footage from one of the responding officers … shows in excruciating detail dozens of sworn officers, local, state and federal — heavily armed, clad in body armor, with helmets, some with protective shields — walking back and forth in the hallway, some leaving the camera frame and then reappearing, others training their weapons toward the classroom, talking, making cellphone calls, sending texts and looking at floor plans, but not entering or attempting to enter the classrooms,” the American-Statesman reported.

They continued to wait even as they heard more gunshots. Officers are shown using hand sanitizer and even fist-bumping each other. Finally, 74 minutes after police arrived, officers rushed the classroom and killed the gunman. Nineteen elementary school children and two teachers were dead.

In the aftermath of this unspeakable tragedy, there have been a number of contradictory statements about the police response and the chain of command. Meanwhile, local officials and law enforcement agencies have stonewalled requests for information and documents that could help explain what happened. Perhaps the video can ultimately help the families get the answers they deserve and further efforts to ensure that police officials are held accountable for disregarding their vow to protect and serve.

Law enforcement agencies across the country routinely undergo training for crisis situations. When such events do occur, we regularly see police act heroically at great risk to their personal safety. The Uvalde video should be required viewing for such simulated exercises as an example of what not to do if the ultimate goal is to try to save lives.