Demings calls for investigation into police response to Texas school shooting

Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) said on Sunday that she wants an investigation into local and federal authorities’ initial response to the shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Demings told moderator Margaret Brennan that since the Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, law enforcement officers have been trained to respond to and defuse an active shooter situation.

The Florida Democrat called for a investigation into the response by Texas law enforcement, the details of which changed dramatically over the course of last week, with officials acknowledging police did not confront the shooter until more than an hour after the rampage began.

“Well, what we must demand is a thorough and complete investigation,” Demings told Brennan.

“We all know post-Columbine, there is no time to waste, that the officers on that scene are expected to go into those active shooter situations. We trained on it at the Orlando Police Department, and every sworn member, including the chief of police, went through the active shooter training,” Demings added. “So, obviously, that did not happen.”

Demings also said more questions than answers remain about the police response to the shooting.

“We have to make sure that it is as clear and as accurate as possible. So there’s a lot of work to do there,” Demings said. “We have certainly more questions than answers, and I know that we’re gonna get to the bottom of it.”

Nineteen schoolchildren and two teachers were killed and 17 other people were injured on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas, when a gunman opened fire inside a fourth grade classroom at Robb Elementary School. The massacre in Texas happened a week after a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., in which 10 people were killed. Both of the shooters, who were 18 years old, obtained their weapons legally.

Demings also called on the Senate to pass a background check law and a “red flag” law in response to the shootings.

“I believe that those are two pieces of legislation that have overwhelming public support. We can get it done if the Senate has the political will to do it,” Demings told Brennan.