I keep waiting for the shocking revelations about the police response to Tuesday’s horrific school shooting in Uvalde, TX, to subside, but things just keep managing to get worse.

As RedState has reported, we’ve learned that the police arrived, disengaged from the shooter out of fear of being shot, and then waited for at least an hour before a group of Border Patrol agents entered the building and neutralized the killer. Witnesses also described a disturbing scene, with parents begging the officers on scene to act while they mingled outside, hassling parents.

Now, another disturbing bit of information is exposing just how deadly the ineptness of the police response was. According to a report from NBC News, the Border Patrol agents who showed up and eventually took down the shooter were held back by the local police for half an hour. It wasn’t until they decided to disobey that order to stand down that the situation was brought to a close.

Federal agents who went to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday to confront a gunman who killed 19 children were told by local police to wait and not enter the school — and then decided after about half an hour to ignore that initial guidance and find the shooter, say two senior federal law enforcement officials.

According to the officials, agents from BORTAC, the Customs and Border Protection tactical unit, and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrived on the scene between noon and 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Local law enforcement asked them to wait, and then instructed HSI agents to help pull children out of the windows.

The BORTAC team, armed with tactical gear, at first did not move toward the gunman. After approximately 30 minutes passed, however, the federal agents opted of their own volition to lead the “stack” of officers inside the school and take down the shooter.

It has been confirmed that there were children who hid in the classroom the shooter was in and survived. Now, imagine if these Border Patrol agents had continued to sit on the sidelines any longer. How many more dead kids would there be?

I’m trying to imagine what reason there could have been for the local police to order its officers to not enter the school for an hour. They should have been rushing in from the beginning–without retreat–until the children still alive were saved. There is no question that the at least seven officers initially on the scene had the numbers to end the massacre.

Yet, it’s even more unthinkable that the same decision-makers would then prevent the Border Patrol team from entering. What exactly were they waiting on at that point? If a tactical team wasn’t good enough, what would have been? It seems the answer is that the local police didn’t believe there was still an active shooter situation, presumably believing that the shooter had already killed everyone in the room he was in. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of how someone in a position of power could give up so easily.

In short, it appears this situation, as horrible as it was, could have actually been worse if it weren’t for these Border Patrol agents who told the local police enough is enough. What happened here is unforgivable. Those in charge must be punished, financially (and legally, if possible).