美国国家公共电台 NPR--Some victims' families say Texas police didn't do enough to save their children

Some victims' families say Texas police didn't do enough to save their children

Transcript¹

Many questions remain about some of the most basic facts of the mass shooting in Texas. Primarily, why law enforcement took so long to stop the shooter. Authorities have given contradictory² accounts.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The most basic fact of the mass shooting in Texas is the timeline - what happened, for how long and in what order. Days later, we do not have a definite timeline. And Texas authorities have given contradictory accounts. There's no consistent explanation for why the attacker remained in the school for up to an hour. Texas Congressman³ Joaquin Castro wants the FBI to step in here.

JOAQUIN CASTRO: The families most of all, but really the American people deserve an accurate accounting⁴ of what happened and an accurate accounting of the law enforcement response.

FADEL: NPR's Ashley Lopez is in Uvalde, and she spoke⁵ with us this morning.

ASHLEY LOPEZ, BYLINE⁶: So law enforcement officials, primarily the Texas Department of Public Safety, held a press conference yesterday. It was kind of a strange event. They didn't take many questions, and the few they did take were largely unanswered. It's worth noting that officials didn't make time to address Spanish-language media, even though three-fourths of Uvalde residents are Latino. One of the few things we did learn is that there was no school resource officer when the gunman entered the school. Apparently⁷, the shooter walked in through an unlocked door, and that has surprised the public and politicians. And it's a surprise because just the day before, authorities publicly stated that a school resource officer engaged with the shooter as he was trying to enter.

FADEL: So contradictions there. Authorities say it took nearly an hour to stop and kill the shooter. Do we know why - why it took so long?

LOPEZ: No, we don't. Victor Escalon with the Texas Department of Public Safety said they still can't pin down exactly what took so long. By the time the gunman started shooting and when he was killed by the Border Patrol officer, there were a lot of law enforcement officers at the scene, according to Escalon. They are still interviewing everyone who was there and reviewing footage. And until that's done, it's unclear whether that took longer than it should have. And Escalon points out that there's, like, many factors at play here.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VICTOR ESCALON: Could anybody have gone there sooner? You got to understand - small town. You have people from Eagle Pass, from Del Rio, Laredo, San Antonio responding to a small community.

FADEL: Now, Ashley, though, we've seen these videos circulating of distressed⁸ parents begging police to go inside, trying to get inside themselves. What are family members who were outside that school during the shooting - what are they saying?

LOPEZ: Some families in the past few days have started to criticize the police for taking so much time to go in and take down that shooter. As you mentioned, there were parents standing⁹ outside the school during the shooting. Many of them were pleading with officers to intervene. Families have said they're angry and confused about what happened.

FADEL: And I think they're not alone in that confusion. Tell us about the response from elected officials.

LOPEZ: That's right. Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro, who represents nearby San Antonio, wrote a letter to the FBI asking them to take over the investigation¹⁰. He told NPR that an accurate account of what happened is essential.

CASTRO: Well, after hearing the conflicting accounts by state authorities, my confidence is shaken, I think, just like a lot of Americans who have watched those press conferences. And I think many folks would feel more comfortable if the FBI took the lead in this investigation.

LOPEZ: Castro also says in his letter that he's concerned that there's still no full accounting of the time between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the day of the shooting.

FADEL: NPR's Ashley Lopez, thank you so much for your reporting, Ashley.

LOPEZ: Yeah. Thank you, Leila.

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 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 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。