'Do your f***ing job or quit': Verified police officers on Reddit blast Uvalde response

A community of law enforcement officers on Reddit are responding with despair and rage at the “damning” behavior of fellow officers in the released footage of the Uvalde school mass shooting.

/r/ProtectAndServe, a subreddit “where the law enforcement professionals of Reddit can communicate with each other and the general public,” were reacting to the 77-minute video of the hallway outside the classroom where the shooter killed 19 children and 2 teachers.

“I’d rather get killed making an effort to stop that weaselly little fuck from executing 9 year olds than be among the most hated cops in the country below Derek Chauvin,” read the highest rated comment by a police officer.

“No one else is coming to save the day. You are the people that come save people. Fucking do it. If you can’t have that mentality in a situation like this, hang it up.”

Twitter user LethalityJane noted that everyone who identifies as a LEO on r/ProtectAndServe must first verify their employment with the moderation team.

For reference, everyone on that subreddit has to prove their employment to the mod team before they get flair that labels them as a law enforcement officer

— Lethality Jane🌻 (@LethalityJane) July 13, 2022

The video, obtained and released by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE, shows the gunman entering the school, walking down the hallway and firing into a classroom. The paper said they edited out the children’s screams, deeming it “too graphic.”

The majority of the video shows heavily-armed police arriving, approaching, withdrawing and waiting. Modern active shooter training dictates that officers should engage a shooter as soon as possible to minimize the loss of innocent lives, but the assembled officers do not breach the classroom until the final, 77th minute of the footage.

“Nope. No. Fuck no,” posted a verified deputy sheriff who watched until police went in and started backing off.

“I’m never one to [Monday Morning Quarterback], but it’s a fucking school. During school hours. With little kids inside and a lunatic who isn’t confirmed down,” he added.

“Do your fucking job or quit.”

Several comments mock the Uvalde police officer who used a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser and checked his phone, which appears to have a “Punisher” lock screen.

“Blue sleeve checkered shirt deputy needs to turn in his badge,” wrote a verified highway patrolman. “I watched the entire video and he just hung out hugging the wall, played on his phone, put on hand sanitizer and generally didn’t do anything the entire time.”

The video was to be shown to family of those who died in the shooting on Sunday.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, called video’s leak “appalling.”