Texas law enforcement grilled over heavily-criticized response to Uvalde school shooting
Ex-DC Homicide Det. Ted Williams and national security expert Aaron Cohen offer reaction and analysis on 'Hannity.'
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police leadership must resign and the agency needs a rigorous independent investigation following their "colossal" tactical breakdown revealed in the latest reportage from the site of the school shooting.
Aaron Cohen, a former member of the Israeli Special Operations Unit, told Fox News on Friday the breakdown was "inexplicable."
During an earlier press conference, the head of Texas DPS faulted, without naming him, the Uvalde CISD Police incident commander as having made the "wrong decision" not to engage suspect Salvador Ramos.
Chief Pedro Arredondo reportedly believed Ramos was in a barricade, not an active-shooter, situation, DPS Director Steven McCraw said.
Cohen told "Hannity" that Arredondo's agency now understands there "was a major, colossal failure" – while adding it is important not to paint law enforcement with a broad brush while one agency is taking heat.
UVALDE CISD POLICE RESPONSE TO SCHOOL SHOOTING ‘EMBARRASSING’, EX-DC HOMICIDE DETECTIVE SAYS
A vigil in the center of Uvalde, Texas honoring the 19 students and 2 teachers shot in the deadly mass shooting. (Fox News Digital)
"Clearly the protocol with this -- and I want to be careful not to poo-poo all law enforcement across the country… I've been training law enforcement for almost 20 years-- it just seems that for whatever reason, this particular agency didn't have the appropriate protocols in place or didn't have the confidence to be able to pull off making entry with single two or three officers," he said.
UVALDE MAYOR CONDEMNS O'ROURKE'S OUTBURST
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty)
Cohen surmised the agency had not engaged in strenuous enough "stress training" in reference to the officers reportedly "froze under duress."
"I do think there needs to be an independent investigation. I also think that the leadership of this police agency should take the brunt of the responsibility [and] step down. I think that would be the right thing to do at this point."
Kymber Guzman, 8, signs a memorial for the victims of a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty)
"This is a tactical situation here, which for every second wasted, another innocent person is killed. That's how long it takes to pull the trigger."
Cohen and "Hannity" host Tammy Bruce went on to praise the Border Patrol BORTAC agent who independently stormed the school. The agent was reportedly getting his hair cut when he took the barber's shotgun and headed toward the school.
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