Texas Senate Approves Bill to Improve Active Shooter Response in Wake of Uvalde Tragedy
Three years after 19 students and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the Texas Senate on Monday approved House Bill 33, a sweeping measure aimed at improving how law enforcement, emergency responders, and school officials respond to active shooter incidents.
Crafted by Representative Don McLaughlin, the former mayor of Uvalde, and carried in the Senate by Senator Pete Flores of Pleasanton, HB 33 seeks to eliminate confusion and enhance coordination between agencies during mass shooting events—confusion that plagued the response to the 2022 Uvalde tragedy.
The bill mandates:
- Annual coordination meetings between schools, emergency medical services, law enforcement, and any other stakeholders who may be involved in an active shooter response.
- Multi-hazard emergency response plans to be developed and updated regularly.
- Standardized active shooter protocols for city, county, and campus police agencies.
- The Texas Department of Emergency Management to assess available local resources and develop mutual aid agreements with sheriffs in all counties with public schools.
- The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University to establish standardized after-action reporting procedures for reviewing and improving active shooter responses.
“This bill makes notable efforts to ensure that Texas schools are a safe place to send our children,” said Senator Flores, referencing the Department of Justice’s scathing report on the Robb Elementary shooting response, in which 400 law enforcement officers were present but failed to act decisively for 77 minutes.
The new legislation builds on previous reforms passed in the wake of the shooting, which included mandatory ALERRT training for all Texas peace officers.
Senator Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio, who represents Uvalde, supported the legislation while continuing to push for broader reforms. “It was in all of that failure, from law enforcement at every level, that led to the continued loss of life,” he said. “It’s my hope that through this piece of legislation that it’ll be one step closer to making sure that this never happens again.”
The bill now moves to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk for final approval.
