Uvalde shooting: Officers had rifles and a ballistic shield on site in minutes — but still waited an hour to enter classroom, says new report | US News

Multiple officers armed with rifles and at least one ballistic shield were at the scene of the Texas school shooting within 19 minutes – but they didn’t enter the classroom and stop the gunman for another hour. new reports say.

According to documents reviewed by the local Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, officers with more firepower and tactical equipment were at Robb Elementary much earlier than first reported.

It marks the latest embarrassing revelation that many see as the failure of law enforcement to stop the attack.

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed on May 24 when he dropped out of high school Salvador Ramos committed a violent murder at the Uvalde school with an assault rifle.

He was eventually shot dead but distraught Parents outside begged the police to come in much sooner than they did – over an hour later according to some reports.

Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez maintained officers responded “within minutes” of the incident.

But at a news conference a few days after the tragedy, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, admitted the “wrong decision” had been made not to break down the classroom door sooner.

“From hindsight’s sake, of course, it wasn’t a right decision, it was a wrong decision,” he said.

The new media report, will be presented to a public hearing by the Texas Senate in Austin on Tuesday.

Investigators say the latest information suggests officers had enough firepower and protection to bring down the gunman long before they did.

The timeline reported by American-Statesman and KVUE from documents includes footage from inside the school that shows the 18-year-old gunman casually entering the back door at 11:33 a.m., walking to a classroom and right away. immediately spray the gun before barricading himself.

Officers have generals

Video shows 11 officers entering the school three minutes later, the outlet reported.

School District Sheriff Pete Arredondo called the Uvalde Police Department and reported that their suspect “shot multiple times” with an AR-15-style rifle and was faster than officers at the school, who were which he said was armed only with a pistol.

Four minutes later, they say, at 11:44 a.m., the body camera video recorded the sound of more gunshots.

At 11:52 a.m., the first ballistic shield arrived as impatient officers took action.

Another officer with the ballistic shield arrived at 12:03 and another officer with the shield two minutes later, reports said.

It was only at 12:46 p.m. that Mr Arredondo told members of his tactical team to break through the door when ready, the outlet reported.

Delays in law enforcement response are at the heart of the federal, state, and local investigation into the massacre and its aftermath.

Read more:
The victim’s father said that his daughter’s death “can’t be in vain and something needs to be changed“

Abandoned parents are angry law enforcement has stormed into the classroom, even as the 4th graders trapped inside are desperately calling 911 for help.

Mr Arredondo has since said he does not consider himself responsible at the scene because he believes someone else has controlled the response of law enforcement.

Lyliana Garcia, 16, is the daughter of teacher Irma Garcia, who was killed in the shooting, and José Garcia, who died of a heart attack two days later.

The couple had four children, including Lyliana.

She told the administrators: “The orphan knowledge from such a young age is unimaginable.

“These are the consequences my family suffered due to a lack of thorough research. I would like to share an excerpt from my sister’s painful cries. She said: ‘My mother died protecting me.’ my students, but who protected my mother. ?'”