UVALDE, Texas - It has been two years since the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, where 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers were murdered just hours after their end-of-the-year ceremonies.
Records and body camera video show that nearly 400 officers showed up at the scene, but waited 77 minutes before entering the classroom and taking out the gunman.
The school district was woefully unprepared, a Justice Department report found. Most officers "lacked specialized, advanced training and preparation to handle such situations."
Two years later, several officers still serving the Uvalde community have still not had active shooter training. Our I-Team went through hundreds of pages of training records, examining each officer currently employed by the Uvalde County Sheriff's Office, the Uvalde Police Department, and the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department. We found that some officers haven't had any specific active shooter training since May 24, 2022, and some officers haven't had any of this specialized training at all.
"After two years, you should not be told that you need active shooter response training, especially in Uvalde," said Ari Jimenez, a longtime law enforcement professional who travels the country teaching active shooter courses.
The State of Texas passed a law in the last legislative session that requires active shooter training for all licensed peace officers. They must complete a minimum of 16 hours through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training, or ALERRT, Center every two years. That law went into effect in 2023, so these officers still have time to meet the requirement, but Jimenez says it should have been a priority long before the law passed.
Keep in mind, not every officer currently with these departments was employed at the time of the tragedy. Some have resigned or moved to other departments and others have been hired on.
Uvalde Police Department
The Uvalde Police Department has promoted several training sessions on their Facebook page this year, but we found that of all the agencies in the city, they have the longest way to go toward 100% of officers being trained for active shooter events.
We looked at full time officers with the department and discovered that eleven officers had not completed any active shooter training in the last two years, ALERRT or otherwise. One officer hadn't had any specific active shooter training in almost 20 years. Others have done shorter active shooter courses over the last two years through other agencies, but no ALERRT courses.
Some of the officers are new to the department, only serving for about a year, but six are longtime officers, serving between 11 and 27 years.
"Stop making excuses and get the training," Jimenez said. "If not, they should not be peace officers... that's the driving force, saving lives. That's our business."
We also looked at records for former Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez, who was out of town when the shooting happened in 2022. He stepped down from his position in March of this year. He's listed as a reserve officer, but even before resigning, state training records we examined don't list any specific active shooter trainings.
Homer Delgado stepped in the chief position after Rodriguez and has said that every officer will have to finish active shooter training by the end of this year. It's unclear if this includes reserve officers, most of which have not completed active shooter training yet.
Jimenez says dispatchers should be included in the training requirements too, saying that if you don't, "it's limiting yourself and your ability to set up a command, to provide the tools necessary."
Uvalde dispatchers were taking calls from inside Robb Elementary two years ago. During the shooting, 10-year-old Khloie Torres called 911 several times, begging law enforcement to help her and her classmates.
"Please hurry! There's a lot of dead bodies," Khloie told the dispatcher. "Send help for my teachers."
Chief Delgado released a statement saying he would not be doing media interviews leading up to the two-year anniversary, so we were unable to confirm if reserve officers and dispatchers will be included in the training requirements.
We will continue reaching out to the city to get those answers.
Uvalde CISD Police Department
The Justice Department report was critical of the training Uvalde CISD received ahead of the shooting, saying it has "a number of statements and guidance that diverge from the generally accepted active shooter practices."
The I-Team uncovered documents that show the active shooter training Uvalde CISD received was retired four months ago.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, or TCOLE, is in charge of establishing and enforcing training standards for all peace officers in Texas. They announced that this specific training would no longer count toward law enforcement requirements, especially because of the new state law requiring ALERRT training.
The Uvalde CISD police force was disbanded and rebuilt after the tragedy. We got to go inside a training with the new Uvalde CISD police officers last summer. Officers practiced with firearms like handguns, bolt rifles and ARs. They also took courses on hostage rescues, entry and confrontation, active shooter protocols, and vehicle chases.
When we examined training records, we found that all but one Uvalde CISD police officer has had active shooter training and met the ALERRT requirements. That officer just started with the district at the end of 2023.
Several officers in the district have completed far beyond the minimum training as well. Three of the eight officers at the department have been through almost 100 hours of ALERRT training each in the past two years.
The department's current Chief, Josh Gutierrez, is stepping down in June, so the top spot will be open yet again.
A spokesperson for the Uvalde CISD tells us they were busy with end-of-the-year activities and the two-year mark of the tragedy, so Gutierrez was not available for an interview.
We will continue following up with the district about these training requirements.
RELATED: UCISD police had active shooter training before the massacre. That course is now retired.
Uvalde County Sheriff's Office
The Uvalde County Sheriff's Office also has a few members who have not completed active shooter training in the last two years.
Sheriff Ruben Nolaso tells us in an email, that will change.
Everyone who has a Texas Peace Officer License commissioned by the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office will be required to complete an ALERRT Training regardless if they serve in a full time or reserve position.
And he's taking it one step further than the state training law, which requires a renewal every two years. Nolaso says every deputy and reserve officer will have to complete an ALERRT course every calendar year.
When we did our analysis, we filtered out deputies that worked in the jail or didn't work full time, but Nolaso says they will be included in his requirements too.
Nolaso says several employees are signed up for a course in June.
Moving forward
Jimenez says with the new chief and assistant chief at the Uvalde Police Department, and a new chief being hired at the school district, there are opportunities to change the culture around training and preparedness in Uvalde. He says it's important for officers to really absorb and learn from these trainings, instead of checking a box, in order for the whole community to heal.
It is not a state requirement for agencies in an area to train together, but the agencies in Uvalde have indicated that they have participated in some joint trainings.
Jimenez says he hopes this serves as a lesson for departments across the country who may be lacking on training for active shooters:
"Because one day, if something like Uvalde is repeated, we're not gonna be standing waiting for somebody to tell us what to do, we will know what to do so we can save lives."
