Rep. McCaul said SWAT team member told him of stand down order

“I just happened to bump into one of these SWAT team members outside the classified briefing room in the Capitol,” McCaul said on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.” 

“And he told me about how—and I heard this firsthand—that his commanding SWAT team officer told them to stand down, that they were there eating breakfast and that he told them to stand down,” said McCaul, who promised his committee would hold hearings on responses to emergency situations and government clearances.

Washington’s police union is investigating reports that members of the U.S. Capitol Police force were told to stand down instead of engaging the shooter involved in the attack. They were reportedly some of the first people at the scene who could handle the gunman.  

{mosads}“That’s obviously of great concern when you have a SWAT team that close by that could respond to the situation,” McCaul said. 

The Navy Yard is about 1.5 miles from the Capitol. 

A number of other reports have also surfaced that say first responders’ radios malfunctioned when they were on the scene of last week’s massacre. 

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Monday and another agency requesting that they look into these reports. 

Asked whether he’s concerned about these issues, McCaul said, “This long after 9/11, the idea that we’re not interoperable is really inexcusable.”