Gunman entered Texas elementary school unobstructed, was inside for an hour

The gunman who massacred 19 kids and two teachers at a Texas elementary school Tuesday was inside for more than an hour before he was killed in a shootout, law enforcement authorities said Thursday amid mounting public anger and scrutiny over their response to the rampage.

A media briefing referred to as by Texas security officials to clarify the timeline of the assault provided bits of previously unknown info.

By the time it ended, though, it had added to the troubling questions surrounding the attack within the town of Uvalde, together with about the time it took police to succeed in the scene and confront the gunman, and the apparent failure to lock a faculty door he entered.

After two days of offering often conflicting info, investigators said that a school district police officer was not inside Robb Elementary when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos arrived round 11:30 a.m. native time, and, opposite to their previous stories, the officer had not confronted Ramos outdoors the building.

Instead, they sketched out a timeline notable for unexplained delays by regulation enforcement in responding to the attack.

Ramos crashed his truck close to the back of the varsity at 11:28 a.m., then fired an AR-style rifle at two people coming out of a close-by funeral house, stated Victor Escalon, regional director for the Texas Division of Public Security.

Ramos then entered the school "unobstructed" by an apparently unlocked door at about 11:40 a.m., Escalon said.

However the first police officers did not arrive on the scene until 12 minutes after the crash and didn't enter the school to pursue the shooter until four minutes after that. Inside, they were pushed again by gunfire from Ramos and took cowl, Escalon stated.

The crisis came to an finish after a group of Border Patrol tactical officers entered the varsity roughly an hour later, at 12:45 p.m., mentioned Texas Division of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine. They engaged in a shootout with the gunman, who was holed up in a fourth grade classroom. Radio chatter at 12:58 p.m. indicated that he was lifeless.

In the hour in between, the officers called for backup, negotiators and tactical groups, whereas evacuating college students and lecturers, Escalon said.

But he largely ignored questions on why officers weren't capable of cease the shooter sooner, saying he had "taken all those questions into consideration" and would offer updates.

Ken Trump, president of the consulting firm Nationwide Faculty Security and Security Services, mentioned the length of the timeline raised questions.

"Based mostly on best practices, it's extremely difficult to understand why there were any forms of delays, particularly if you get into experiences of 40 minutes and up of entering into to neutralize that shooter," he stated.

Many different details of the case and response remained murky. The motive for the massacre — the nation's deadliest faculty taking pictures since Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., a decade in the past — stays beneath investigation, with authorities saying the gunman had no known prison or psychological well being historical past.

Throughout the siege, frustrated onlookers urged cops to cost into the college, in line with witnesses.

"Go in there! Go in there!" ladies shouted on the officers quickly after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who watched the scene from exterior a home across the street.

Carranza stated the officers ought to have entered the college sooner: "There were more of them. There was just one among him."

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw defended the company Wednesday, saying, "The underside line is law enforcement was there. They did have interaction instantly. They did contain him within the classroom."

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz didn't give a timeline but mentioned repeatedly that the tactical officers from his agency who arrived on the college didn't hesitate. He stated they moved shortly to enter the building, lining up in a "stack" behind an agent holding up a defend.

"What we needed to ensure is to act quickly, act swiftly, and that's precisely what these agents did," Ortiz advised Fox Information.

But a law enforcement official mentioned that after in the constructing, the Border Patrol agents had bother breaching the classroom door and needed to get a staff member to open the room with a key. The official spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak publicly about the investigation.

Department of Public Security spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez instructed CNN that investigators had been making an attempt to determine whether the classroom was, in reality, locked or barricaded in a roundabout way.

Javier Cazares, whose daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed within the attack, said he raced to the college when he heard concerning the taking pictures. 

When he arrived, he stated he saw two officers exterior the school and about 5 others escorting college students out of the building. But 15 or 20 minutes handed earlier than the arrival of officers with shields, geared up to confront the gunman, he mentioned.

As more parents flocked to the varsity, he and others pressed police to behave, Cazares mentioned. He heard about 4 gunshots before he and the others had been ordered again to a car parking zone.

"A variety of us had been arguing with the police, 'You all have to go in there. You all have to do your jobs.' Their response was, 'We can't do our jobs since you guys are interfering,"' Cazares said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, will travel to Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday to console families and honour the victims of Tuesday's taking pictures.

The White House mentioned the Bidens would "grieve with the community that lost 21 lives within the horrific" shooting at Robb Elementary College. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated the president would meet with the group, native non secular leaders and the victims' families.

Making the announcement, Jean-Pierre echoed Biden, who in remarks Tuesday night, spoke from private experience in regards to the pain of dropping a baby, and known as on the nation to tighten gun legal guidelines in response to the shooting.

'"When in God's identify are we going to stand as much as the gun foyer?" he mentioned. "Why are we willing to dwell with this carnage? Why will we hold letting this happen?"

Earlier than attacking the college, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother on the dwelling they shared.

Neighbour Gilbert Gallegos, 82, who lives across the street and has identified the family for decades, stated he was puttering in his yard when he heard the photographs.

Gallegos stated he noticed a automotive racing away from the home: "He spun out, I imply quick, spraying gravel in the air."

The grandmother quickly emerged from the home, coated in blood.

"She says, 'Berto, this is what he did. He shot me,' " he recalled.

Gallegos mentioned he had heard no arguments before or after the photographs, and knew of no historical past of bullying or abuse inside the house.

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