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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,104 posts)
Sat Jun 4, 2022, 08:32 PM Jun 2022

Poor Police Radio Reception Caused Confusion in Texas School Shooting Response, Says Official

UVALDE, Texas—The police officers who waited more than an hour inside a school in which a mass shooter was barricaded were in a position that received only sporadic and unreliable radio communications, according to two officials with knowledge of the investigation and the system.

The lack of direct and clear communication complicated the response to the mass shooting that left 19 fourth-graders and two teachers dead, said a U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation. For over an hour, law enforcement waited in a hallway, instructed not to rush into a classroom in which the gunman had barricaded himself, while children inside were calling 911 pleading for help.

Ultimately, 19 children and two teachers were shot to death in the classroom on May 24 before federal agents from a Border Patrol tactical team known as Bortac breached the doors and killed the shooter.

Exactly what happened with police radio transmissions is part of ongoing investigations by state and federal law enforcement, the U.S. official said

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/poor-police-radio-reception-caused-confusion-in-texas-school-shooting-response-says-official/ar-AAY5wcT

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Poor Police Radio Reception Caused Confusion in Texas School Shooting Response, Says Official (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jun 2022 OP
I do not believe this ...... Lovie777 Jun 2022 #1
Napoleon didn't need radio. Tetrachloride Jun 2022 #2
Sounds like a lie. Iggo Jun 2022 #3
Excuse #123 sinkingfeeling Jun 2022 #4
That figure sounds a little on the low side. CanonRay Jun 2022 #5
This is the first thing I thought reading this new excuse: madaboutharry Jun 2022 #6
More cya bullshit. I don't believe one word of this nonsense. MerryBlooms Jun 2022 #7
They're getting desperate dalton99a Jun 2022 #8
Unexpected outbreak of bone spurs. Thunderbeast Jun 2022 #9
Add technology to the growing list of excuses they didn't do their... Hugin Jun 2022 #10
Their radios didn't work? sop Jun 2022 #11
Bovine excretment Pas-de-Calais Jun 2022 #12
It would be hilarious if the circumstances weren't so tragic Hav Jun 2022 #13
A poor craftsman blames their tools JonAndKatePlusABird Jun 2022 #14
What Did It Matter Me. Jun 2022 #15
The same communications system they used a few months earlier in training? keithbvadu2 Jun 2022 #16
And no one had a cell phone?? vanlassie Jun 2022 #17
The Keystone Kops have finally met their match BlueSpot Jun 2022 #18
Meanwhile children being killed were able to get through to police dispatchers with no problem pecosbob Jun 2022 #19
Excuses, excuses Retrograde Jun 2022 #20
when they say "barricaded" don't they mean the shooter just locked the classroom door? orleans Jun 2022 #21
In police speak, barricaded just means the subject has holed up somewhere. Jedi Guy Jun 2022 #23
It also assumed the kids were dead...how convenient for these cowards. Demsrule86 Jun 2022 #28
Even if true, that's still not an excuse for their poor coordination. Jedi Guy Jun 2022 #22
I thought they initially arrived without a radio Rhiannon12866 Jun 2022 #24
the same radios they use to onethatcares Jun 2022 #25
another excuse Novara Jun 2022 #26
I do not believe it for one minute...you could hear gunfire and the kids were calling for help. Demsrule86 Jun 2022 #27
OK, sure - tomorrow they'll blame a solar eclipse . . . hatrack Jun 2022 #29
"The Police Are Not To Blame" dartboard. Aristus Jun 2022 #30

Hav

(5,969 posts)
13. It would be hilarious if the circumstances weren't so tragic
Sat Jun 4, 2022, 09:55 PM
Jun 2022

They are acting as if one unit was operating on another planet. They were only standing around. Surely one of them could have made the few steps to the outside of the building if critical information didn't reach them in a reliable manner.

Me.

(35,454 posts)
15. What Did It Matter
Sat Jun 4, 2022, 10:08 PM
Jun 2022

Arredendo (sp.?) didn't have a radio with him to begin with so how could he give commands for them to hear?

keithbvadu2

(36,369 posts)
16. The same communications system they used a few months earlier in training?
Sat Jun 4, 2022, 11:38 PM
Jun 2022

The same communications system they used a few months earlier in training?

Retrograde

(10,070 posts)
20. Excuses, excuses
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 04:05 AM
Jun 2022

Frontline troops in WWI - over a hundred years ago - had halfway decent radio communications. NASA astronauts on their way to the moon had decent radio communications. It's not exactly a new technology.

orleans

(33,987 posts)
21. when they say "barricaded" don't they mean the shooter just locked the classroom door?
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 04:12 AM
Jun 2022

i get this image of the shooter piling up desks and bookcases to actually barricade the door, but then the cops were waiting for a janitor with a key to get into the room by unlocking the door.

i keep thinking they use the word barricade b/c it makes it sound like it was really hard for the cops to break into the room. if they said the killer "locked the door" we'd be thinking "why the hell didn't the cops shoot the lock?"


Jedi Guy

(3,171 posts)
23. In police speak, barricaded just means the subject has holed up somewhere.
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 04:30 AM
Jun 2022

It doesn't necessarily mean that the subject has blocked the entrances or anything like that. They nearly always result in a SWAT callout, in my experience.

For whatever reason, the incident commander decided that Ramos was bunkering down and probably taking the kids hostage. He made exactly the wrong decision and now he's scrambling to cover his ass.

As for shooting the lock, that's Hollywood fantasy. In real life, it requires a very powerful gun at close range, plus other specialized gear that's usually only carried by SWAT or other tactical units. Even then, they don't target the lock itself, but the hinges.

Jedi Guy

(3,171 posts)
22. Even if true, that's still not an excuse for their poor coordination.
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 04:14 AM
Jun 2022

Arredondo stepped up and claimed the mantle of incident commander. At the point he realized that radio wasn't working properly he should have made the decision to flip to conference call via cell phone with the team leaders at the very least, if not every officer on scene. So either A) they had no backup plan on place, or B) Arredondo didn't have the wit to use it.

Arredondo screwed up by deciding to treat it as a barricaded suspect situation, as if Ramos could be reasoned with, rather than an active shooter situation. He's going to have to justify that decision at the end of the day and won't be able to do so.

The other big question I have is why didn't another senior officer take incident command from Arredondo when it became clear he was out of his depth. I've read reports that many officers on scene were frustrated by the decision not to engage Ramos right away. Why didn't someone pull Arredondo aside and tell him they were stepping in?

Whatever the case, Arredondo deserves to go down for this. He blew it.

onethatcares

(16,133 posts)
25. the same radios they use to
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 08:22 AM
Jun 2022

run your tag and throw you in jail for a broken license plate light in the middle of the day.

Funny how that works

Demsrule86

(68,352 posts)
27. I do not believe it for one minute...you could hear gunfire and the kids were calling for help.
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 09:19 AM
Jun 2022

It is a disgraceful response and every cop involved should be fired...from what I heard the Feds went in despite being ordered not. I suppose they wanted all the kids dead so they couldn't say what happened. Instead of going after the shooter, they attacked the parents.

hatrack

(59,442 posts)
29. OK, sure - tomorrow they'll blame a solar eclipse . . .
Sun Jun 5, 2022, 09:22 AM
Jun 2022

And Tuesday it'll be Hunter Biden's laptop, and Wednesday a Carrington Event . .

Blah blah blah blah blah.

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