- Texas police are facing mounting criticism over their response to the
Uvalde school shooting . - But legal experts say the officers are likely protected from any ensuing lawsuits in the matter.
Texas police are facing mounting criticism over authorities' stalled response to a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in
But despite reports that law enforcement officers kept parents from rushing into the building, all the while refusing to send officers into the besieged school, legal experts say any parents seeking justice with a lawsuit against the police are unlikely to succeed.
Last Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman fatally shot 21 people at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas after barricading himself inside a 4th-grade classroom. Nineteen officers spent nearly 80 minutes in a hallway outside the classroom as children inside begged 911 dispatchers to send help, before a Border Patrol agent ultimately killed the gunman, Texas officials said last week.
In the week since the tragedy, state police have changed their story 13 times and suggested that the reason officers did not immediately confront the shooter was because they "could've been shot."
But any affected parents hoping to sue the police over their increasingly messy response face an uphill battle.
Sovereign immunity
Unless police are actively creating the danger in a perilous situation, they are usually legally protected even if they fail to intervene, according to V. James DeSimone, a Los Angeles-based employment and civil rights attorney.
Legal experts said police in the Uvalde incident would likely be protected under a doctrine known as sovereign immunity or government immunity, which protects federal and state governments from being sued without their consent.
Applied in Texas, the principle grants broad protection to state government entities over the way they handle emergencies such as a school shooting, Ryan Sellers, a Texas-based estate and probate attorney said in a statement shared with Insider.
"As sad as that is, it's probably right for police to have that protection," Christa Ramey, a trial attorney said in comments shared with Insider. "We want police to make difficult choices. We don't want them to be second-guessing themselves moment by moment and worrying about getting sued every time they make the wrong choice."
While the state of Texas has statutes that suggest police officers "shall" take certain actions, Jack Hales, an estate and probate attorney, said there is little explanation of what that assertion requires and the punishment, if any, for failing to do so.
"Without any clear consequence for failure to do so, a rule without a consequence isn't much of a rule," Hales said.
A sliver of hope
There is, however, a "sliver of hope" for any victims' parents who are hoping to sue the police, DeSimone said: The fact that law enforcement officials on the scene prevented parents from entering the building to save their own children may have caused additional harm.
Videos shared on social media in the aftermath of the shooting show Texas law enforcement personnel restraining desperate parents as they implore officers to enter the building. Federal marshals put one mother in handcuffs, accusing her of "intervening in an active crime scene."
"Who's to say a child's life could not have been saved by giving them more prompt medical attention," DeSimone said, explaining that any attorney representing an aggrieved parent would likely have to prove that preventing parents from entering the building ultimately resulted in further harm to a child.
Still, he said, the overall danger of the situation would still likely favor authorities' immunity when it comes to any lawsuits.
Instead of focusing their efforts on suing the police, parents might find more success in targeting the school itself, said Ramey, who has brought lawsuits against school districts on behalf of students.
"Schools only have two jobs: to teach children and to keep them safe," Ramey said in a statement shared with Insider. "Outsiders shouldn't just be able to enter that easily."
Texas police falsely claimed last week that a Robb teacher propped open the back door of the school just before the gunman attacked, allowing him to easily enter the building. On Tuesday, authorities clarified that the teacher closed the door when she saw there was a shooter outside, citing video evidence.
The door's automatic lock malfunctioned, authorities said, so while the door did close, it failed to lock.