One of the main takeaways of the report is how officers incorrectly dealt with the Uvalde school shooting as a "hostage or barricaded subject situation" instead of an "active shooter situation".

It describes how officers barricaded the gunman inside a classroom full of children while they worked to evacuate other parts of the building.

At certain points, officers attempted to negotiate with the gunman as they waited for back-up.

The report notes how this approach is a departure from the generally agreed-upon response to an active shooter situation, born out of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, which states that the first priority must be to immediately stop the gunman.

"The primary goal is to stop the shooter as quickly as possible," the report states.

"An individual that has engaged in active shooting and has access to victims should never be considered anything other than an active threat," it adds.

People in Uvalde, a small Texas town of roughly 15,000, have been waiting for this report ever since the Department of Justice announce it in the days after the shooting.

Speaking before today's report was published, families said they look forward to seeing it and thought it would "validate a lot of our feelings".

"I guess the next step is to find out what will be done with this information," said Berlinda Arreola, grandmother of one of the children killed.

On the whole, the scathing report by the US Department of Justice found the police response in Uvalde to be a "failure".

The 575-page document gives a comprehensive look at a disorganised and confused response from both local and state police. It outlines how police barricaded the suspect inside the classroom while they waited for back-up outside its doors, instead of storming in immediately and apprehending the gunman.

While they waited, the report describes how officers spent 40 minutes searching for a key to the door of the classroom space that may have been unlocked the whole time.

"The doorknob was never checked," the report states.

"There is a great deal of confusion, miscommunication, and lack of urgency and a lack of incident command," according to the report.

In his statement on the report, Attorney General Merrick Garland says that "as a consequence of failed leadership, training and polices, 33 students and three of their teachers - many of whom had been shot - were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside."

Image source, Reuters

We'll shortly be hearing from US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who'll be giving a press conference on this highly-anticipated report in about half an hour.

On Wednesday, Garland visited families in the town and stopped by the murals of victims painted. Officials from the Department of Justice also held a private meeting and briefed them on what the report would say.

In a statement released earlier, Garland said: "The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better.

"The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022 - and the response by officials in the hours and days after - was a failure."

Image source, Reuters

Immediately in the days after the mass shooting, questions and criticism mounted from parents over the initial response from law enforcement.

Hundreds of officers responded to Robb Elementary - but body camera footage showed police waiting in hallways outside classrooms for more than an hour before a team entered and confronted the gunman.

In July 2022, a separate report by Texas lawmakers said there had been "egregiously poor decision-making" by police who were slow to act at the scene.

The gunman had fired roughly 142 rounds inside the building before he was stopped, according to that report.

The Texas officials' also accused police of failing to "prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety".

Today's fresh review from the Department of Justice is aiming to “provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and response that day", officials said.

Image source, Reuters

Nineteen children and two teachers died in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Ulvade in Texas on May 22, 2022.

It's one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.

The gunman, Salvador Ramos, who was 18, had written on social media that he would carry out the attack.

Before heading to the school, in a truck loaded with ammunition, he shot and injured his grandmother.

He then spent more than an hour in the school building, firing an AR-15 style rifle inside two classrooms, before he was eventually killed by law enforcement.

The shooting victims were aged between seven and 10. Teachers Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia were also killed. Seventeen others were injured at the school. More here.

Welcome to our live coverage, as the US government has today released a major, long-awaited report into the response to the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022.

It was one of the deadliest school shootings in US history and the families of those killed have repeatedly criticised how law enforcement responded.

We'll be hearing from officials including US Attorney General Merrick Garland at a news conference in about an hour - so stick with us for updates.

You can read the latest on what we know so far is in the report here.