Texas police commander: Officers could have stopped the gunman in Uvalde school shooting within three minutes

AUSTIN, Texas - The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety says three minutes after a gunman entered a school where he slaughtered 19 elementary students and two teachers there was sufficient armed law enforcement on scene to stop the gunman. Yet police officers armed with rifles stood and waited in a school hallway for nearly an hour while the gunman carried out the massacre. 

Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, called the police response "an abject failure."  Delays in the law enforcement response have been the focus of the federal, state and local investigation of the massacre and its aftermath.

The police commander made the comments while giving testimony during a committee hearing on the deadly school shooting that left two teachers and 19 children dead. 

The committee is listening to testimony from law enforcement authorities and other affected parties related to the facts and circumstances of the events relating to the violent acts, shootings, and murders at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates

The Associated Press contributed to this article