TOP STORY OF THE DAY - Lessons from Uvalde

On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, armed with a rifle, barricaded himself inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, where he shot and killed 19 children and two teachers while police officers were outside for more than an hour listening to gunshots.

Ramos, who had shot his grandmother, made text messages about the shooting, stole and wrecked the grandmother’s pickup truck in a ditch near the school, fired on two people at a funeral home while walking to Robb Elementary, was killed after 80 minutes of being in the school.

In January 2024, the US Department of Justice released the most official report about what happened that day at Robb Elementary and the subsequent investigation into the incident.

The 575-page scathing Criminal Incident Review about law enforcement’s flawed response at the Active Shooter mass shooting reveals the response was plagued by “systemic failures and egregious poor decision making.”

LEARNING FROM TRAGEDY

The Clay Community School Corporation, especially Superintendent Dr. Tim Rayle and Police Chief Josh Clarke, is reading the disturbing report closely.

“This report has certainly opened my eyes,” said Clarke, who has been involved in Active Shooter Training for many years in his law enforcement career. “We have and do train every day to protect our students and staff members. But there are things in this report that we can learn from.”

“I tell you, so much has changed from when I was a teacher in my career,” said Rayle. “I am so confident to have the men of our police department here and in our community. I am confident these men will do whatever is necessary to protect our children and staff members if - God forbid - that time ever happens here.”

A.L.I.C.E

On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre of 12 students and one teacher brought the seriousness of school safety to the forefront of society. Among the early training programs for active shooter incidents was the idea of “Run, Hide, And Fight,” but over time that has changed.

ALICE Training teaches people of all ages to be better prepared in a situation of a violent critical incident or active shooter situation. The name says it all:

Alert

Lockdown

Inform

Counter

Evacuate

Students, teachers and administrative personnel have been training for years with this program.

WHY?

“Because it has happened before in Brazil,” said Clarke. “It was one of the first school shootings reported.”

April 24, 1890: Brazil - Meridian Elementary Street School, a student, Ben Corbery, shot a 10-year-old Cora Brubach in the face while they were playing at recess because she had told the teachers about something he had done wrong. While the shooting was not fatal, Brubach survived.

Clarke really believes that the community was lucky at that time, and with how things are in society now, if it happened again, “We might not be so lucky. We can’t be complacent about this. We have to take this seriously.”

Rayle said the safety training is not just an annual thing, students, staff and teachers all participate monthly, if not daily.

“All of our students are taught age-appropriate strategies to protect themselves and each other,” said Rayle, because this type of incident can happen anywhere at any time. “These are life lessons our students can use to prepare for, keep safe during, and recover from a disaster that could happen during their lives. The biggest problem for anyone caught unprepared in the middle of a crisis situation is they might freeze, not knowing what to do. We want to prepare our students for their future, the good and the bad.”

While the Uvalde report is being studied by the corporation for recommendations on how to improve security locally, Rayle and Clarke were able to discuss some of the current security measures in place.

NOTE: Specific details are not made available to protect security integrity.

PROBLEMS TO WORK ON

Reaction times in any security incident are crucial, both Rayle and Clarke agree.

“Every second is the potential for an injury,” said Rayle, who believes the creation of the school corporation’s police force will be crucial in the future. “Security training is ongoing daily, and it is evolving each day.”

Clarke said School Resource Officers (SROs) sign up to take the responsibility for the lives of children and staff members.

“These men, many of them fathers themselves, have signed up for this job knowing the day could come that they have to be first on the scene, become a one-man SWAT Team to protect our children by being the first to go through that door and lay down their lives,” said Clarke, adding the good thing that they have worked up to 20 years together previously in law enforcement and understand unified command. “If one officer goes down, they should know immediately know what to do next.”

The DOJ Critical Incident Review of Active Shooter at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, failed to provide accurate information and communication at the scene.

“There is a lot of confusion at this type of incident,” said Clarke. “It is not my place to be critical of another agency, but this is an area we will be working on.”

Rayle said the school administration will help creating a safe off-site area for students to be taken to and parents to pick up their children. Another part of this incident will be providing the most accurate information to families.

“The Clay Community School Corporation will be the source for official information, we will be in charge of doing that,” said Rayle, who urges people to not believe any social media information. “We understand, because we are parents too, the feeling of getting to your child as fast as possible. It is going to be a stressful situation, but be patient. The activation of the corporation’s auto telephone service will be key source of information. Most parents have signed up for that, and we will use that for parents throughout the county as the official source of updates, and instructions for potential staging, unification and any potential early dismissal at other facilities.”

Maximizing the use of resources is vital, said Clarke.

“Whatever the outcome of an active shooter situation, people need to understand that where ever this might occur is now an active crime scene, a triage unit, an investigation site,” said Clarke, who said is the reason why the public should stay away to let law enforcement and first responders do their jobs. “This could take days.”

Another concern highlighted in the report, was the fact a door at Robb Elementary was open, which allowed the gunman access.

Clay Community School Corporation has taken steps to reinforce the entryways at all the facilities.

“Schools are always on lockdown for safety reasons,” said Clarke. “A large portion of the job for SORs is making sure those doors remain, they are door checkers. If any child should be hurt because of an incident like this would be heartbreaking. The shooter might have all the information of why they did this, but the passion these men - all of our local law enforcement men really - have to positively engage with these students and protect them at all cost; is a mission they are willing to do.”