DeKalb law enforcement expert gives perspective on way Uvalde police handled school shooter

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — New questions are emerging about the police response to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Authorities say the shooter was inside the school for more than an hour before Border Patrol tactical agents shot and killed him.

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“The longer those questions go on and answered. It just leaves room for rumor and innuendo,” Dr. Cedric Alexander told Channel 2′s Matt Johnson.

Alexander is a former Dekalb County Public Safety Director and current public safety expert.

He was in charge in 2013 when an armed 20-year-old walked into McNair Discovery Learning Academy.

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Bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff convinced him not to shoot anyone while in a standoff with police.

“The shootings that we hear about today, generally oftentimes don’t end that way,” Alexander said.

Alexander said his team was prepared to use school active shooter training if they heard gunshots.

“It became important for them to enter the building as quickly as they can, if it wasn’t no more than to deflect away from the targets, which in this case was school-aged children, and put that target on them where they were able to defend themselves,” Alexander said.

At a news conference Thursday, authorities said the shooter got in through an unlocked door at Robb Elementary.

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Just after 11 a.m., the 18-year-old gunman crashed a truck and got out with a rifle and at 12:58 pm he was dead.

Parents at the scene appear to have urging more police officers to enter the school during that time frame.

Alexander says a state investigation would help clear up confusion and help others avoid any potential mistakes.

“It is hugely important to maintain as much visibility as to what occurred and to maintain a sense of legitimacy with your community in which you’re serving,” he said.

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