Again, the Uvalde attack was 100% real. I've been there and I know this is true.
Also, one of the issues that isn't reported often is that the schools had to repeatedly go on lockdown due to Border Patrol chasing runaway illegal immigrants. Whenever this happened near the school, the schools would have to go on lockdown for safety purposes. There had been almost 50 lockdowns just since January, probably due to Uvalde being so close to a border checkpoint. It is just human nature to become less vigilant over lockdowns when they occur that frequently.
Once the seriousness of the situation was known, I can't explain why things were handled so poorly. But keep in mind that this is a small town. One of those towns where "everybody knows everybody." There was no conspiracy. In my opinion, this was a small town and police force, that simply was not prepared. First, I'm sure nobody thought there was a real danger and then, once the truth was known, they simply were in over their head.
There are a lot of people, mostly outsiders, who are hating on the police and demanding that they be fired. But, if you do that, who will replace them? There are not a lot of people lining up to move to Uvalde to join the police department if everyone is fired.
So, to repeat, the Uvalde shooting was real and there was no conspiracy.