CAIRO — The gunman stalked through a Tunisian beach resort in Sousse, firing at will. He killed people on the sand, then moved into the grounds of a five-star hotel, picking off tourists by the pool, near the lobby and in the parking area.
The Tunisian security forces were conspicuous by their absence.
A marine guard who tried to confront the gunman fainted in panic and dropped his gun. When he came to, he fled to the beach and hid behind an umbrella.
A second security team, armed with assault rifles and wearing protective vests, was just around the corner. But instead of rushing to the shooting scene, the team’s members went for reinforcements. By the time they returned, 30 minutes had passed and 38 people were dead.
The Tunisian government acknowledged fault on Wednesday for the way its police force responded when a gunman linked to the Islamic State went on a rampage in Sousse in June 2015. A spokesman for the Tunisian Justice Ministry confirmed that at least six police officers had been referred to trial for criminal negligence for failing to help the victims, most of them British tourists. An additional 27 people were referred on similar charges, the ministry said.
The government publicized the indictments after a British inquest issued damning findings about the killings. The British report laid bare the failings of the Tunisian security forces in stark language.
Relatives of the dead wept openly as the judge read his statement in a London courtroom.
The British inquest offered some relief to the pain of grieving families seeking answers about how the gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, could have slaughtered so many people at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse before he was stopped.
Mr. Rezgui, a 24-year-old Tunisian radicalized by the Islamic State and trained in Libya, was armed with an AK-47 rifle, three grenades and fireworks when an unidentified accomplice dropped him off near the hotel. His rampage lasted at least 22 minutes before he was shot dead by members of the Tunisian National Guard.
Relatives of some of the Sousse victims say the travelers should have been warned about the danger of attacks on tourists and have said they will sue tour operators who booked the beach vacations.
The inquest found that the best chance of stopping Mr. Rezgui came when two marine guards, one of them armed, reached the beach on an inflatable boat. After pausing a few minutes on the beach, they entered the hotel grounds, saw Mr. Rezgui and fired at him. But the marine guard with the gun fainted when Mr. Rezgui tossed a grenade at him (the grenade did not go off).
A speedboat driver who heard the shooting picked up the gun the guard had dropped and tried to shoot the assailant but was unable to operate the weapon and had to retreat. By then, the inquest found, the officer who fainted had fled to the beach, and his colleague had taken off his uniform shirt to hide that he was an officer.
The judge said that a second team, from the Tourist Security police, was just two minutes from the scene when its officers learned of the attacks. But instead of going straight to the hotel, the officers went to a police station and stayed there for eight minutes before setting off again. When the more senior officer in the team finally reached the hotel, he remained outside and did not fire a single shot.