What has been much less forthcoming are explanations of how a shooter was in a position to remain in the school for almost an hour earlier than he was killed by law enforcement.
Investigators are nonetheless working to piece collectively a timeline to clarify how an 18-year-old gunman was in a position to stroll as much as Robb Elementary School with a rifle, enter with out being stopped by an unlocked door, barricade himself inside a classroom and open fireplace on a category full of youngsters.
A scene of chaos and confusion started to kind outdoors the school as news of the assault unfold on Tuesday.
One father stated he requested law enforcement to present him their gear.
“I told one of the officers myself, if they didn’t want to go in there, let me borrow his gun and a vest and I’ll go in there myself to handle it, and they told me no,” the father advised CNN. His son survived.
Several movies captured the frantic scene as mother and father pleaded with officers to go inside or permit them to go in themselves. The video reveals officers holding mother and father behind the yellow tape of a police line, refusing to allow them to enter as crying and screaming might be heard in the background.
After about an hour, a US Border Patrol tactical crew pressured its approach into the classroom and fatally shot the gunman, Escalon stated.
Days after the confrontation, grief-stricken neighborhood members are nonetheless annoyed about the delay.
“We deserve to know what happened. These parents deserve to know what happened,” Democratic State Sen. Ronald Gutierrez, whose district consists of Uvalde, advised CNN, including “I know there was a failure here.”
“At the end of the day, we have to find out for the future, so that this never happens again, what kind of failures happened. And I feel in this situation, standing back was not the thing to do,” he stated.
What we all know and do not know about the taking pictures timeline
After taking pictures his grandmother in her dwelling, Ramos drove to Robb Elementary, the place he crashed his truck in a close-by ditch, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Erick Estrada stated. It’s unclear why he crashed.
The shooter fired at two witnesses throughout the avenue earlier than strolling towards the school and taking pictures at the constructing, in keeping with Escalon.
There have been no officers outdoors the school to cease Ramos when he arrived, Escalon stated, contradicting earlier information from authorities that stated he was “engaged” by a school useful resource officer earlier than he entered the school.
That earlier information was “not accurate,” Escalon stated Thursday. The shooter “walked in unobstructed initially,” he stated.
Then, Ramos bought into the constructing by an apparently unlocked door at 11:40 a.m., Escalon stated.
The door he entered by is generally locked, “unless you are leaving to go home on the school bus,” former principal Ross McGlothlin advised CNN.
Inside the school, the shooter barricaded himself inside two adjoining lecture rooms and fired greater than 25 occasions, Escalon stated.
At 11:44 a.m., law enforcement arrived and entered the school. Three law officers went in the similar door the shooter used and 4 got here in by a special entrance, DPS spokesperson Chris Olivarez advised CNN. When they went to confront the shooter, he fired at them and so they took cowl.
Two responding officers obtained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, in keeping with Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez.
“It is important for our community to know that our officers responded within minutes” alongside school useful resource officers, he stated.
Officers then known as for extra tactical groups and assets comparable to physique armor whereas they labored to evacuate lecturers and college students, Escalon stated. About an hour later, he stated, a US border patrol tactical crew was in a position to enter and kill Ramos.
When requested for extra particulars at a news convention about what precisely responding officers have been doing in the hour-long interval, Escalon declined to offer additional information.
Grieving neighborhood reckons with aftermath
In the days following Tuesday’s bloodbath, the residents of Uvalde are nonetheless saturated in grief. For some, the devastating news continued to come back as neighborhood members discovered the husband of certainly one of the victims had additionally died Thursday morning.
Edward Timothy Silva, a second grader who was in the school, advised CNN he recollects hiding behind desks in the darkish as he heard loud noises in the distance.
“He was asking me does he have to go to school next year,” his mom Amberlynn Diaz stated. “And I just don’t want him to be afraid of school. I want him to continue learning and not be scared of going back to school. I want him to have a normal life again.”
CNN’s Tina Burnside, Carroll Alvarado, Joe Sutton, Shimon Prokupecz, Travis Caldwell, Jamiel Lynch, Andy Rose, Amanda Musa, Alexa Miranda, Monica Serrano, Amanda Jackson, Caroll Alvarado, Eric Levenson and Holly Yan contributed to this report.