Law enforcement expert weighs in on how Uvalde Police handled school shooting

ORLANDO, Fla. - The hour that the Texas elementary school gunman spent inside the building during his rampage is drawing scrutiny from law enforcement. One expert told FOX 35 New that there is no question the shooting in Uvalde could have been handled better by law enforcement. Yet he believes even if it were, many people still would have died. 

"It shouldn’t be that difficult. It should be like clockwork."

Law enforcement expert David Thomas says since Columbine, law enforcement officials have gotten active shooter responses down to a science in training anyway. But in real life, there are still issues. Officers in Uvalde are being criticized for waiting up to an hour to enter the classroom where the gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.

"If you’re the first guy or gal on scene, you’re supposed to respond and others will get there and they will back you up so an hour is a long time," said Florida Gulf Coast University professor of forensic studies David Thomas. 

Thomas says the first priority is to try and negotiate with the shooter. But if the shooter is in the midst of such a severe mental health crisis that he or she won’t stop shooting, much like what happened in Uvalde, then the next steps have to be taken. "When a person’s in that mental state, it’s just null. It’s not going to happen," said Thomas.

He did point out that part of the problem was how small Uvalde’s police department is. They likely didn’t have the equipment to properly break down doors and get into the school building. He calls the law enforcement situation at Uvalde "disorganized," but even if they were more organized, he still says many would have died. 

"If this were handled better, do you think many more lives could have been saved?" a FOX 35 reporter asked. 

"No," said Thomas. In many mass shootings, "all of those people are killed in less than two minutes so while we’re pushing to get people to the scene, most of the damage is already done.

One thing Thomas said Uvalde did right was to keep the shooter contained in one room so they could clear the rest of the building.