美国国家公共电台 NPR--Texas officials say Uvalde gunman could have been stopped much sooner

Texas officials say Uvalde gunman could have been stopped much sooner

Transcript¹

More has been revealed more about the police response to last month's school shooting in Uvalde. A top law enforcement official called it an "abject² failure" and laid out mistakes made the day.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

It's been a month since a gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Weeks later, information about what officers did and did not do to stop it is still coming to light. At a state legislative³ hearing, authorities said there were enough officers with the necessary equipment to stop the gunman just 3 minutes after he entered the school, but it took more than an hour for officers to get inside the classroom where the gunman was killing⁴ children and teachers. Texas Public Radio's Camille Phillips reports.

CAMILLE PHILLIPS, BYLINE⁵: After more than three weeks of silence from authorities, the top law enforcement officer in Texas, Steve McCraw, started his comments to lawmakers by saying police failed in Uvalde.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

STEVE MCCRAW: The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated⁶ officers was the on-scene commander who decided⁷ to place the lives of officers before the lives of children. The officers had weapons. The children had none. The officers had body armor. The children had none. The officers had training. The subject had none.

PHILLIPS: McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, placed the blame for the wait to confront the shooter on Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MCCRAW: I appear to be hypercritical of the on-scene commander, and I don't mean to be, but the facts are the facts. Mistakes were made. It should have never happened that way. This set our profession back a decade, is what it did.

PHILLIPS: The official account of what happened during the May 24 shooting has shifted numerous times, and it did again yesterday. Arredondo delayed sending officers into the classroom where the gunman was holed up because he couldn't find a key to unlock the door. But McCraw says evidence now shows it could have been opened at any time because the door was never locked.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MCCRAW: The subject doesn't just walk in, as I testified before, then shoot the classroom, walk back out of the hallway, then walk back in again seamlessly. OK? And he didn't have a key. And we've gone back and checked in our interviews. And did anybody touch the door and try it at that point? Why not? And, of course, no one had.

PHILLIPS: Even with this update, there are many unanswered questions. Uvalde residents have known enough to know things went badly wrong for weeks. At a school board meeting on Monday, they called for accountability. Jesus Rizo Jr. said he didn't understand why the school district police chief hasn't been suspended until the investigation⁸ is completed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JESUS RIZO JR: The children that didn't make it - we don't hear their voice anymore. But I promise you one thing. We will speak for them. You will hear their voice through us until accountability takes place.

PHILLIPS: Brett Cross is the uncle of Uziyah Garcia, one of the 19 kids killed in the shooting.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BRETT CROSS: Innocence⁹ doesn't hide. Innocence doesn't change its story. But innocence did die on May 24 at Robb Elementary - not just the victims, but every survivor¹⁰, every child that heard those shots, every child that ran from the school, every teacher that stood steadfast¹¹ in front of their children.

PHILLIPS: Cross says it's terrifying someone incapable¹² of making decisions that would have saved lives still works for the district. Lyliana Garcia, the 16-year-old daughter of teacher Irma Garcia, says she and her three siblings¹³ are orphans¹⁴ now. Her 12-year-old sister has lost the most, robbed of the chance to dance with her parents at her quinceanera.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LYLIANA GARCIA: I would like to share a quote of one of my little sister's agonizing¹⁵ cries. She said, my mom died protecting her students, but who was protecting my mom?

PHILLIPS: Lyliana says her little sister's question will always haunt her and should always haunt everyone.

For NPR News, I'm Camille Phillips in San Antonio.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

10 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

11 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

12 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

13 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

14 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

15 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死