A law enforcement source monitoring the interagency emergency channel during the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde tells Breitbart Texas that radio communication problems were experienced during the response period. The source says at one point, officers were faced with a “hot mic” situation which may have crowded the line of communication.
The source, not authorized to speak publicly, says the interagency channel became congested by the number of broadcasts during the response to the shooting. The source adds that communications were difficult to hear at times when officers from separate agencies attempted to transmit information at once on a shared line.
According to the source, congestion will preclude some broadcasts from being transmitted or they become unintelligible to the receiver. Compounding the matter was one officer’s inadvertent depression of a transmit button, essentially creating a hot mic for approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
The source says a 911 dispatch operator attempted several times to broadcast an alert about the hot mic to no avail. According to the source, the dispatcher announced one agency would be removed from the channel and then re-connected to clear the air.
The broadcasting officer realized the mistake before the forced disconnect had to occur.
The source, who has been involved in other multi-agency law enforcement emergencies, says patching multiple responding agencies onto one channel is commonly problematic. Despite the chaos, the source praised the efforts of the 911 operator, explaining that grouped communications are their only hope for knowing how each agency is responding to an incident.
The information provided by the source brings into question what information first responders and on-scene commanders may have been able to receive from local 911 dispatchers.
Law enforcement who responded to the shooting entered the building approximately two minutes after the shooter — two of whom were grazed by gunfire. The gunman had entered an open classroom and barricaded himself behind the locked steel door designed to protect students from such an incident.
Responding law enforcement have faced intense public scrutiny after comments made by Texas Department of Safety Director Steve McCraw during a press conference last Friday.
McCraw criticized decisions made by Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Chief of Police Pete Arredondo regarding the length of time it took for officers to breach the classroom. The door was only able to be opened once officers secured a key from a janitor sheltering elsewhere on campus. Some officers have received death threats in the aftermath.
In the same press conference, McCraw also blamed a teacher for leaving an exterior door propped open with a rock, which he said allowed the shooter easy entry. A DPS spokesman retracted the statement days later after the teacher’s attorney disputed the claim.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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