The Shooting Gallery: Families in the Uvalde, Texas school massacre are questioning why it took as long as 90 minutes to neutralize the shooter who was killing children and teachers.

  The officers who initially entered the school were fired upon and withdrew, waiting for special teams, investigators now say. Witnesses say terrified and angry parents were shouting at the cops, urging them to go in. Victor Escalon, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said officers evacuated children and staff while waiting for backup.

  One border patrol agent who was getting a haircut when the shooting started grabbed his barber’s shotgun and went to clear classrooms.

  While initial reports said the gunman got past an armed security guard, authorities now say that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos climbed over a fence to get into school grounds, began shooting, and entered the building through an unlocked door.

  Officials say most of the victims were shot in the first few minutes of the attack.

  Ramos had crashed his pickup in a ditch on his way to the school and popped off some rounds before jumping the fence. Albert Vargas, an electrician, told The NY Times, “His face was blank. There was no expression there.” Vargas told the paper, “He looked like nothing mattered but the mission he was on.” 

  As if things couldn’t get worse, the husband of one of the two teachers killed has died of a massive heart attack. Joe Garcia, 50, had just gotten home after visiting his wife’s memorial. Together, Joe and Irma Garcia leave behind four children, one of them 23, the others, teenagers.

  In Washington, Senate Republicans blocked a bill to fight domestic terrorism that passed the house after last week’s grocery store massacre in Buffalo. The vote comes as lawmakers are under intense pressure to take action in the wake of multiple recent episodes of horrific gun violence.

  The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022 would provide for tracking and 

analyzing domestic terrorist activity. Republican leaders say it would do what’s already being done.

Gun Culture: The semi-auto rifle used to kill 19 kids and two teachers was made by Daniel Defense, one of the largest privately-owned gun manufacturers in the country.

  Eight days before Salvador Ramos went on his rampage, the company posted an ad on social media featuring a toddler holding am assault rifle.  The ad said, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” 

  The owners of the Georgia-based company have given more than $70,000 to Republican candidates for federal office this election cycle, and $100,000 last year to a PAC backing incumbent Republican senators.

  The National Rifle Association’s annual convention and celebration of lethal weapons kicks off this weekend in Houston. Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are expected to appear. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott is skipping it.

The War Zone: Russian forces have taken the city of Lyman, the second midsize Ukrainian city they’ve overrun this week as the war grinds on and civilians get killed. In taking Lyman, the Russians used fuel-air bombs that set off huge, destructive shock waves and burn wide areas.

  Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russian forces are attempting to turn eastern cities “to ashes.” He claimed “an obvious policy of genocide pursued by Russia.”

Animal House: Four House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, signaled that they will refuse to cooperate with subpoenas from the January 6^th investigating committee, setting up for some nasty politics.

Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and Andy Biggs of Arizona each sent letters of objection to the committee. California’s McCarthy filed court papers arguing that the committee’s subpoenas are illegitimate.

  Perry called the Democratic-led committee a “kangaroo court.”

  The Republicans are clearly trying to stretch out the proceedings in hopes that they can win the House majority in November and kill the investigation of the attempt by President Trump and his allies to overthrow the legitimate results of the 2020 election.

Bad Act: British authorities have authorized four criminal counts of sexual assault involving three men against American actor Kevin Spacey. The country’s Crown Prosecution also authorized one charge against the 62-year-old Spacey of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.”

  Well, isn’t that special.

  The incidents involved range from 2005 to 2013. These are not the first accusations that Spacey has committed sexual assault or inappropriate behavior with young men.

  Spacey has won both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars. Now, if he enters British territory, he’ll be arrested.

The Obit Page: Actor Ray Liotta, who broke out as a sneering and demonic wiseguy in the 1990 hit mobster movie Goodfellas, died in his sleep while on location in the Dominican Republic for a thriller called Dangerous Waters. He was 67.

  In “Goodfellas” Liotta played a rendition of the real life New York mobster Henry Hill, who became a federal witness against his crime cronies. Liotta had as many as 100 movie credits, including playing “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in the baseball movie Field of Dreams, and he played alongside Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story.

The Spin Rack: A New York State appeals court ruled that former president Donald Trump and his two adult sons must sit for questioning under oath as part of the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into their business practices. — Jean-Luc Martinez, who ran the Louvre from 2013 to 2021, has been charged with complicity in fraud and money laundering in an investigation into the trafficking of Egyptian antiquities. Under the French system, Martinez is identified as a potential criminal, but he might not be charged. — A recall of Jif peanut butter for potential salmonella contamination is rippling through other grocery items that contain Jif’s peanut butter. Included are not only 49 Jif products but other items, including Del Monte’s PB& J sandwiches and some of Albertsons’ store-made snacks.

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