Uvalde teacher: there is no excuse for the delay of the police 2:06
(CNN) --
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has appointed a team to lead its review of law enforcement's response to the bloody shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman It ended the lives of 19 minors and two teachers in adjoining classrooms and remained there for more than an hour while the police waited nearby.
"The review will be thorough, it will be transparent and it will be independent," Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday.
"We will assess what happened that day, we will do school visits, we will conduct interviews with a very wide variety of stakeholders, witnesses, families, law enforcement, government officials, school officials, and we will review the resources that were made available afterward. ".
Garland emphasized that the DOJ investigation "is not a criminal review."
The Justice Department traditionally relies on people from outside the department with experience in law enforcement and mass casualty events to participate in reviews.
The department already conducted such reviews after the 2015 massacre in San Bernardino, California, and after the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida.
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The DOJ said the review was requested by Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, who told reporters Tuesday that he welcomes assessment of state and local agencies' response during and after the deadliest school shooting in the United States. United since 2012.
Law enforcement officers work at the scene of Robb Elementary School on May 24.
McLaughlin cited "some mistakes" by the Texas Department of Public Safety in releasing details after the Robb Elementary School shooting that later turned out to be incorrect, but quickly added that he "wasn't blaming anyone."
"We were told one thing one day, and the next day the narrative changed. We were told for a week that a teacher left the door open with a stone, and at the end of the week that story was gone too," the mayor said.
"We want truthful answers. We want to be transparent, and we will do so when it becomes known. We have nothing to hide."
In addition to the federal DOJ investigation, Texas House Representative Dustin Burrows said DPS members will be among the witnesses at a Uvalde Investigation Committee hearing set for Thursday.
This is how the authorities' narrative about the Uvalde massacre has changed
The victims were trapped with the attacker for more than an hour
Children inside adjoining classrooms where the massacre took place made multiple 911 calls as officers waited outside the classrooms.
As many as 19 law enforcement officers were inside the school for more than 45 minutes before the suspect was killed, the Texas DPS said.
A dying Uvalde teacher was on the phone with her husband, a school police officer whose boss decided not to enter her classroom, according to a report.
It is not clear how many of the 21 fatalities could have been saved if the police had stormed the classrooms sooner.
The incident commander's hesitation to storm the classroom has been widely criticized and goes against many law enforcement protocols.
More than an hour after the shooting began, the shooter was killed by a Border Patrol tactical response team.
McLaughlin said Tuesday that he is frustrated by law enforcement's lack of transparency in the investigation.
"They have told me that they are the forces of order and we are not. We are not going to have the right to do so," said the mayor.
"I have asked everyone involved for a briefing at one time or another."
The Uvalde School District Police Chief was the on-scene incident commander and decided not to immediately enter the classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself, Texas DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw said.
That boss, Pedro "Pete" Arredondo, usually leads a police force of six officers.
In an interview with CNN, he declined to discuss details of the case, citing ongoing funerals, and said more information will come when "families stop mourning."
Arredondo, who was elected councilor for Uvalde before the massacre, took office last week in a private ceremony.
"There is no excuse for his actions"
Arnulfo Reyes, a teacher who was shot twice at Robb Elementary School, said he was furious at how the tragedy was handled.
"After all, I get angrier because ... he didn't have anything" to protect himself, like a bulletproof vest, Reyes told ABC's "Good Morning America."
"You are supposed to protect and serve... There is no excuse for their actions. And I will never forgive them," said the fourth grade teacher.
A teacher injured in the Uvalde massacre recalls the horror inside the classroom where 11 students died
Describing the opening moments of the shooting, Reyes said he and his students heard gunshots and told them to "get under the desk and act like you're asleep."
"While they were doing that, and I was herding them under the desk and telling them to act like they're going to sleep, that's about the time I turned around and saw him standing there."
The attacker opened fire, hitting Reyes;
one bullet went through his arm and lung, and another hit his back, ABC reported.
Reyes couldn't move after being shot, he said, and the shooter then aimed his gun at the students.
Officers could be heard outside the classroom and a boy from another class pleaded with police for help, Reyes said.
But Reyes believes the officers had retreated down a hallway by this time, he told ABC.
"One of the students in the next room was saying, 'Officer, we're here. We're here,'" he said.
"But they were already gone."
When the Border Patrol unit finally came in, "there was just bullets everywhere," he told ABC.
When asked if he had a message for the parents of the students, Reyes responded through tears: "I'm sorry. I did my best because of what you told me to do. Please don't be mad at me."
He also said that a change is necessary to avoid this type of school massacres in the future.
"They can give us all the training they want, but... the laws have to change," he said.
"It will never change if the laws don't change."
-- Hannah Rabinowitz, Rebekah Riess, Shimon Prokupecz, Rosa Flores, Rosalina Nieves, Paula Reid, Whitney Wild, Eric Levenson, Jason Hanna, Amanda Musa, Tina Burnside and DJ Judd contributed reporting.
Texas Uvalde Massacre
