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John Cohen, who formerly served as the Department of Homeland Security's counterterrorism coordinator, said Sunday that the police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday was a "failure."
His comments come after the Uvalde Police Department has faced criticism in the days following the shooting, which led to the deaths of 21 people—19 children and two teachers. Some have questioned why it took more than an hour for officers to enter the school to take down 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos after police officers arrived on the scene.
Speaking to Cohen on Sunday, ABC News' This Week host Jonathan Karl asked: "Help us understand now, how did this go so wrong?"
"It was a failure. I've been in law enforcement almost 40 years, I am proud of my profession, I respect the men and women who are out there each day trying to make our community safe, but at the end of the day we had 21 people die, we had 19 children die, we had people potentially die while law enforcement was on scene," Cohen responded.
The ex-counterterrorism chief said that information will come out in the coming days about whether or not officers were properly equipped and trained ahead of the incident, whether the incident commander "made right decisions," and if there were communications issues.
"But at the end of the day it doesn't change the outcome. When you put on that badge, you make a commitment to safeguard the community and protect those who cannot protect themselves. And on that day, law enforcement failed," he stated.
Later, Cohen added that it is "accepted practice in law enforcement that when responding to an active shooter situation you enter the location, you locate the shooter, you engage the shooter, you neutralize the threat, you provide care to those who are injured."
Newsweek has reached out to the Uvalde Police Department for comment.
In a separate interview on Saturday with CNN, Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez also blasted the slow law enforcement response to the shooting. The senator said he had spoken with the mother of one of the children who died, who was told by a first responder that her child "likely bled out."
"In that span of 30 or 40 minutes extra that little girl might have lived," the Democratic senator said. "These mistakes may have led to the passing away of these children as well."
About the writer
Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more