Should they fire police officers who responded to the shooting in Uvalde?
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Uvalde, Texas (CNN) —
A preliminary report by the Texas House of Representatives committee of inquiry into the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre details a series of failures by multiple law enforcement agencies and outlines "a general lackadaisical approach" by authorities at the scene of the shooting in which 21 people were killed.
It's just one of the findings of the 77-page report, which also details the failings of several other entities, including the Uvalde school system, the attacker's family, and social media platforms.
Edited video shows police response to massacre at Uvalde school 5:24
But through its investigation, the commission found no "villain" beyond the attacker, according to a copy of the report reviewed by CNN.
"There is no one to whom we can attribute malice or ill motive," the report says.
"Instead, we found systemic failures and egregiously poor decision-making."
The document, which was made available to the families of the victims on Sunday morning, is described as an "interim report", with the commission of inquiry saying its work remains incomplete and several investigations are still ongoing.
But it is the first time since the Robb Elementary School shooting that a government report has offered a comprehensive look at the shooting and the highly criticized law enforcement response.
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In the days after the attack, officials provided conflicting and confusing information, and key questions about the police response remain unanswered since the May 24 shooting.
Chief among them: why authorities waited more than an hour in the school hallway before confronting and killing the gunman, a move law enforcement experts say could have cost lives.
The agents involved in the Uvalde massacre may never face consequences due to a web of conflicting rules and interests
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steven McCraw called authorities' response a "regrettable failure" at a hearing before a Texas Senate committee last month, blaming the on-scene commander, who state authorities have identified as the chief of the district police Pedro "Pete" Arredondo.
Arredondo, who was placed on administrative leave by the school district, told the Texas Tribune last month that he did not consider himself the incident commander and assumed another officer had taken control of the larger response.
The commission's report, however, describes "deficiencies and failings of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and various agencies and law enforcement officers."
Several agents who responded were from federal agencies, according to the report: Of the 376 who responded, 149 were from the United States Border Patrol, 14 were from the Department of Homeland Security and 91 were from Texas DPS.
Law enforcement officers stand outside the school after the shooting.
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been assisting local law enforcement with the investigation.
(Dario Lopez-Mills/AP)
CNN has reached out to the Texas DPS, the US Border Patrol, the Uvalde School District, the city police department, and the Uvalde District Attorney for comment, among others.
The families will meet with the commission on Sunday.
The report comes nearly eight weeks after an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary and began shooting inside adjoining classrooms, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Republican state Rep. Dustin Burrows, chairman of the commission, said last month that the group would do "everything in its power" to provide facts and answers about what happened "before, during and after this tragedy."
Members of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief and officers, the district superintendent, the school principal, a teacher and custodial staff are among those who testified to closed doors before the commission, with about 40 people testifying, according to one source.
The commission did not have access to material witnesses, the report says, and medical examiners have not issued reports on their findings.
But the commission of inquiry "believes this interim report to be the most compelling account to date," although "some aspects of these interim findings may be challenged or refuted in the future."
The families of the victims were expected to receive the report and hallway surveillance video, without audio, of the law enforcement response on Sunday morning to give them an opportunity to review it before meeting with members of law enforcement. investigation commission.
Parents of Uvalde, outraged by video leak 1:46
Hard copies of the report were hand-delivered to officials in Uvalde and Texas on Saturday night out of fear the document would be leaked to the media before family members of the victims could read it, according to some of the officials who received the report.
The surveillance footage was leaked and published by the Austin American-Statesman newspaper last Tuesday, sparking outrage from both local officials and families, who said they were caught off guard and disrespected by the unexpected post.
In a statement after the newspaper published the video, Burrows said that while he was pleased that a portion of the video was made public, "he was also disappointed in the requests from the victims' families and the Uvalde community to view the video first and not having certain images and audios of the violence, they were not achieved”.
The commission of inquiry's report and video are expected to be released at the same time as Sunday's meeting with family members.
A news conference is scheduled for Sunday afternoon for members of the press to ask questions of the commission.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz and Matthew J. Friedman reported from Uvalde, while Dakin Andone wrote and reported this story in New York. CNN's Elizabeth Joseph reported from Los Angeles. CNN's Rosa Flores and Kevin Flower contributed to this report.
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