The facts in the report also made it clear that neither existing gun laws, nor the expanded background checks passed by Congress in response to the shooting, would have prevented the gunman, Salvador Ramos, from obtaining the gun he used. Although some of his peers referred to him as a “school shooter,” the gunman had no documented history that would prevent him from purchasing a gun. The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature has so far not considered any legislation to restrict firearms in response to the Uvalde shooting, focusing much of its attention during public hearings on police response and school safety. . While the narrative presented by the commission added troubling new details, it did little to change the public’s perception of what happened at Robb Elementary School, as compiled by The New York Times and other news organizations in the intervening weeks. Instead, it deepened the sense of a rudderless law enforcement response. Officers gathered on the north and south sides of the classrooms where the gunman was hiding, but did not communicate with each other, according to the report. Despite a search for a master key in the classroom by the school’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, and others, no one called the principal, who had it. The utility of a specialized tool to open the door was tested but subsequently rejected as too dangerous for officers. The chief of the Uvalde police department called from vacation to tell the acting chief, Lt. Parga, to set up a command post. Mr Pargas did, in an office at a funeral home across the street, but then left shortly afterwards. “This did not result in the creation of an effective command post,” the report said.
