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

The gunman who massacred 19 children and two lecturers at a Texas elementary school Tuesday was inside for more than an hour earlier than 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 called by Texas security officers to clarify the timeline of the attack provided bits of previously unknown information.

By the time it ended, although, it had added to the troubling questions surrounding the assault within the town of Uvalde, together with about the time it took police to reach the scene and confront the gunman, and the apparent failure to lock a school door he entered.

After two days of providing often conflicting data, 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. local time, and, contrary to their earlier stories, the officer had not confronted Ramos exterior the constructing.

As a substitute, they sketched out a timeline notable for unexplained delays by law enforcement in responding to the assault.

Ramos crashed his truck near the again of the college at 11:28 a.m., then fired an AR-style rifle at two folks coming out of a nearby funeral home, stated Victor Escalon, regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Ramos then entered the college "unobstructed" through an apparently unlocked door at about 11:40 a.m., Escalon stated.

However the first cops didn't arrive on the scene until 12 minutes after the crash and did not enter the varsity to pursue the shooter till four minutes after that. Inside, they had been driven back by gunfire from Ramos and took cover, Escalon said.

The crisis got here to an finish after a gaggle of Border Patrol tactical officers entered the school roughly an hour later, at 12:45 p.m., mentioned Texas Department 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 useless.

Within the hour in between, the officers called for backup, negotiators and tactical teams, while evacuating students and lecturers, Escalon mentioned.

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

Ken Trump, president of the consulting agency National Faculty Security and Safety Providers, mentioned the size of the timeline raised questions.

"Based mostly on best practices, it's very difficult to understand why there were any sorts of delays, notably while you get into stories of 40 minutes and up of stepping into to neutralize that shooter," he said.

Many other particulars of the case and response remained murky. The motive for the bloodbath — the nation's deadliest school taking pictures since Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., a decade in the past — stays below investigation, with authorities saying the gunman had no known prison or psychological well being history.

During the siege, frustrated onlookers urged cops to charge into the college, in line with witnesses.

"Go in there! Go in there!" girls shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, stated Juan Carranza, 24, who watched the scene from outside a home throughout the road.

Carranza said the officers should have entered the college sooner: "There were extra of them. There was simply one in all him."

Texas Division of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw defended the agency Wednesday, saying, "The underside line is regulation enforcement was there. They did engage instantly. They did comprise him in the classroom."

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

"What we wanted to ensure is to act shortly, act swiftly, and that's precisely what those brokers did," Ortiz told Fox News.

However a regulation enforcement official stated that when within the constructing, the Border Patrol brokers had trouble 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 because he was not approved to speak publicly about the investigation.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez advised CNN that investigators were attempting to establish whether or not the classroom was, in reality, locked or barricaded indirectly.

Javier Cazares, whose daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, said he raced to the varsity when he heard about the shooting. 

When he arrived, he mentioned he saw two officers outside the varsity and about five others escorting college students out of the constructing. But 15 or 20 minutes handed before the arrival of officers with shields, equipped to confront the gunman, he mentioned.

As extra dad and mom flocked to the varsity, he and others pressed police to behave, Cazares said. He heard about four gunshots earlier than he and the others had been ordered again to a parking zone.

"Numerous us have been arguing with the police, 'You all have to go in there. You all need to do your jobs.' Their response was, 'We won't do our jobs because you guys are interfering,"' Cazares said.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his spouse, Jill, will journey to Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday to console families and honour the victims of Tuesday's capturing.

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

Making the announcement, Jean-Pierre echoed Biden, who in remarks Tuesday night, spoke from personal experience concerning the pain of losing a child, and referred to as on the country to tighten gun laws in response to the taking pictures.

'"When in God's title are we going to face up to the gun lobby?" he stated. "Why are we prepared to reside with this carnage? Why do we maintain letting this occur?"

Before attacking the college, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother at the residence they shared.

Neighbour Gilbert Gallegos, 82, who lives across the road and has known the family for decades, said he was puttering in his yard when he heard the pictures.

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

The grandmother soon emerged from the house, lined in blood.

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

Gallegos said he had heard no arguments earlier than or after the pictures, and knew of no history of bullying or abuse inside the home.

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