The actions — or more notably, the inaction — of a school district police chief and other law enforcement officers moved swiftly to the center of the investigation into this week's shocking school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead in a fourth grade classroom was the nation's deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade, and for three days police offered a confusing and sometimes contradictory timeline that drew public anger and frustration.
By Friday, authorities acknowledged that students and teachers repeatedly begged 911 operators for help while the police chief told more than a dozen officers to wait in a hallway at Robb Elementary School. Officials said he believed that the suspect was barricaded inside adjoining classrooms and that there was no longer an active attack.
The chief's decision - and the officers' apparent willingness to follow his directives against established active-shooter protocols - prompted questions about whether more lives were lost because officers did not act faster to stop the gunman, and who should be held responsible.
The delay in confronting the shooter - who was inside the school for more than an hour - could lead to discipline, lawsuits and even criminal charges against police.
"In these cases, I think the court of public opinion is far worse than any court of law or police department administrative trial," said Joe Giacalone, a retired New York police sergeant.