Episode Details

A 77-page report by a special committee of the Texas House of Representatives concluded that no one was able to stop the gunman from carrying out the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, in part because of “systemic failures and egregious poor decision making” by nearly everyone involved who was in a position of power.

376  law enforcement officers descended on the school in a chaotic, uncoordinated scene devoid of clear leadership and a sense of urgency to take down the gunman, according to the report. 

It is the most exhaustive account of what happened to date, and it was released on Sunday, July 17, 2022.

It found that the mass killer had been dubbed “school shooter” on social media a year before the massacre because of his violent threats against others. 

The high school dropout and social outcast consumed gore and violent sex online. He sometimes shared videos and images of suicides and beheadings.

In real life, he was fired from two fast-food jobs for harassing a female coworker at one and refusing to speak to coworkers at the other.

He spent more than $3,000 on two AR-15-style rifles and accessories when he turned 18 years of age, two weeks before he attacked the school.  The massacre was the first time that he had ever handled a firearm.

The committee found that the killer took advantage of a culture of complacency about school security.  Doors were routinely left unlocked and propped open. Teachers had become desensitized to false alarms and did not quickly react to a lockdown alert.

The report suggests that stopping the gunman sooner could have made a difference. 

“Given the information known about victims who survived through the time of the breach and who later died