Greenland, NH, Police Chief ‘Embarrassed’ by Uvalde, TX, Cops

Greenland Police Chief Tara Laurent feels "betrayed" by the Uvalde, Texas, police officers who waited nearly an hour to respond to the gunman at Robb Elementary School, and said the same thing would not happen in a New Hampshire school.

Edited surveillance video released by the Austin American-Statesman shows police entering the school after gunman Salvador Ramos was already there. He shoots at the officers, who retreat and do not approach Ramos for approximately 40 minutes, during which time he fired 40 rounds.

Laurent said on the department Facebook page that as she watched the video, she became increasingly angry as her hope the video would explain the officers' inaction faded.

"To say that I feel betrayed by these officers is an understatement. I am embarrassed by their initial lack of action and then absolutely horrified by their continued lack of action over the next hour. There are no words that can provide comfort to the parents, families, friends, and community members about what happened that day," Laurent wrote.

The chief said she had trained with officers from nearly every state and learned that the challenges faced by police were the same.

"Training is no exception. Based on that, I felt confident that a certain fact pattern would eventually be released to explain the officers’ delayed action/inaction inside the Robb Elementary School that day," Laurent wrote.

Laurent said that if such an event took place in New Hampshire, police would react differently and would live up to their oath to protect in every circumstance with a "swift and decisive" response.

"I want to be clear: this set of circumstances would absolutely NOT happen in the Town of Greenland, in the NH Seacoast, or anywhere in the State of New Hampshire. The police officers in your communities have taken an oath to lawfully protect you …in every circumstance, in every way, in every location," Laurent wrote.

An emergency plan is in place at every school to cover a "full spectrum of safety hazards." A school resource officer is present in every school, and there are regular drills to make sure students and staff know what to do in case of an emergency.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH