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 greater than an hour before he was killed in a shootout, law enforcement authorities stated Thursday amid mounting public anger and scrutiny over their response to the rampage.

A media briefing called by Texas security officials to clarify the timeline of the assault offered bits of previously unknown info.

By the point it ended, though, it had added to the troubling questions surrounding the attack in the town of Uvalde, including concerning the time it took police to achieve the scene and confront the gunman, and the apparent failure to lock a faculty door he entered.

After two days of offering typically conflicting data, investigators stated that a college 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 previous experiences, the officer had not confronted Ramos exterior the constructing.

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

Ramos crashed his truck near the again of the college at 11:28 a.m., then fired an AR-style rifle at two people popping out of a close-by funeral residence, said Victor Escalon, regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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

But 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 till 4 minutes after that. Inside, they had been driven again by gunfire from Ramos and took cowl, Escalon stated.

The disaster 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., stated Texas Division of Public Security 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 teams, while evacuating students and lecturers, Escalon mentioned.

But he largely ignored questions on why officers weren't in a position to cease the shooter sooner, saying he had "taken all these questions into consideration" and would provide updates.

Ken Trump, president of the consulting agency National School Security and Security Services, stated the size of the timeline raised questions.

"Based mostly on finest practices, it's very obscure why there have been any sorts of delays, notably while you get into studies of 40 minutes and up of getting into to neutralize that shooter," he said.

Many different details of the case and response remained murky. The motive for the bloodbath — the nation's deadliest college taking pictures since Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., a decade in the past — remains beneath investigation, with authorities saying the gunman had no recognized prison or mental health historical past.

Throughout the siege, annoyed onlookers urged police officers to cost into the varsity, based on witnesses.

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

Carranza said the officers ought to have entered the varsity sooner: "There were more of them. There was simply one in all him."

Texas Department of Public Security Director Steve McCraw defended the company Wednesday, saying, "The underside line is legislation enforcement was there. They did engage instantly. They did comprise him in the classroom."

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz did not give a timeline but said repeatedly that the tactical officers from his company who arrived on the school did not hesitate. He said they moved rapidly to enter the constructing, lining up in a "stack" behind an agent holding up a defend.

"What we wished to verify is to behave rapidly, act swiftly, and that's exactly what those agents did," Ortiz instructed Fox Information.

However a regulation enforcement official mentioned that when within the constructing, the Border Patrol agents had trouble breaching the classroom door and needed to get a employees member to open the room with a key. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to speak publicly in regards to the investigation.

Department of Public Security spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez advised CNN that investigators were trying to determine whether the classroom was, in reality, locked or barricaded in a roundabout way.

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

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

As more mother and father flocked to the college, he and others pressed police to behave, Cazares said. He heard about 4 gunshots before he and the others were ordered back to a car parking zone.

"Lots of us were arguing with the police, 'You all have to go in there. You all need to do your jobs.' Their response was, 'We will not do our jobs because you guys are interfering,"' Cazares mentioned.

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

The White Home said 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 neighborhood, native religious leaders and the victims' households.

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

'"When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?" he said. "Why are we prepared to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?"

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

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

Gallegos mentioned he noticed 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, covered in blood.

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

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

Entrance Burner20:06A Sandy Hook mother on one other school taking pictures