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

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

A media briefing called by Texas safety officers to make clear the timeline of the assault offered bits of previously unknown information.

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

After two days of providing typically conflicting information, investigators mentioned that a faculty 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 reports, the officer had not confronted Ramos exterior the building.

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

Ramos crashed his truck close to the again of the varsity at 11:28 a.m., then fired an AR-style rifle at two folks coming out of a nearby funeral house, said Victor Escalon, regional director for the Texas Department of Public Security.

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

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

The disaster 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 known as for backup, negotiators and tactical groups, while evacuating college students and teachers, Escalon stated.

However he largely ignored questions about why officers were not able to stop the shooter sooner, saying he had "taken all these questions into consideration" and would supply updates.

Ken Trump, president of the consulting agency National Faculty Security and Security Companies, said the length of the timeline raised questions.

"Based mostly on best practices, it's very difficult to understand why there have been any types of delays, significantly if you get into reviews of 40 minutes and up of getting in to neutralize that shooter," he stated.

Many different particulars of the case and response remained murky. The motive for the bloodbath — the nation's deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., a decade ago — stays underneath investigation, with authorities saying the gunman had no known criminal or mental health historical past.

Throughout the siege, frustrated onlookers urged law enforcement officials to charge into the varsity, in response to witnesses.

"Go in there! Go in there!" ladies shouted on the officers soon after the assault started, stated Juan Carranza, 24, who watched the scene from outdoors a home across the road.

Carranza stated the officers should have entered the college sooner: "There have been more of them. There was simply one in every of him."

Texas Division of Public Security Director Steve McCraw defended the company Wednesday, saying, "The bottom line is regulation enforcement was there. They did have interaction instantly. They did contain him in the classroom."

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

"What we wished to make sure is to act rapidly, act swiftly, and that's precisely what those brokers did," Ortiz informed Fox Information.

However a law enforcement official stated that after in the constructing, the Border Patrol agents had hassle breaching the classroom door and had to get a employees member to open the room with a key. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not licensed to talk publicly concerning the investigation.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez advised CNN that investigators were making an attempt to establish whether or not the classroom was, in truth, locked or barricaded in a roundabout way.

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

When he arrived, he said he saw two officers outside the varsity and about 5 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 more mother and father flocked to the college, he and others pressed police to behave, Cazares stated. He heard about 4 gunshots before he and the others had been ordered again to a car parking zone.

"Quite a lot of us were arguing with the police, 'You all must 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 mentioned.

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

The White Home stated the Bidens would "grieve with the group that misplaced 21 lives in the horrific" capturing at Robb Elementary School. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated the president would meet with the community, native non secular leaders and the victims' families.

Making the announcement, Jean-Pierre echoed Biden, who in remarks Tuesday evening, spoke from personal expertise in regards to the pain of shedding a toddler, and known as on the nation to tighten gun laws in response to the shooting.

'"When in God's identify are we going to stand up to the gun foyer?" he mentioned. "Why are we keen to dwell with this carnage? Why will we keep letting this happen?"

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

Neighbour Gilbert Gallegos, 82, who lives throughout the road and has known the household for many years, mentioned he was puttering in his yard when he heard the pictures.

Gallegos stated he saw a car racing away from the home: "He spun out, I imply quick, spraying gravel within the air."

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

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

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

Entrance Burner20:06A Sandy Hook mother on another faculty taking pictures