Texas gunman barricaded in classroom with victims for hour earlier than raid ended siege

The gunman within the Texas elementary college bloodbath barged unchallenged by way of an unlocked door, then killed 19 youngsters and two academics whereas holed up of their classroom for an hour earlier than a tactical crew stormed in and killed him, police mentioned on Thursday.

The newest official particulars from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on Tuesday’s mass taking pictures differed sharply from preliminary police accounts and raised questions on safety measures on the college and the response of legislation enforcement.

The college district in Uvalde, Texas, about 80 miles (130 km) west of San Antonio, has a standing coverage of locking all entrances, together with classroom doorways, as a security precaution. But one scholar instructed Reuters some doorways have been left unlocked the day of the taking pictures to permit visiting mother and father to come back and go for an “awards day” occasion.

The newly detailed chronology additionally got here hours after movies emerged exhibiting determined mother and father exterior Robb Elementary School in the course of the assault. They pleaded with officers to storm the constructing, and a few fathers needed to be restrained.

The human toll of the rampage, which ranks because the deadliest US college taking pictures in almost a decade, deepened with media reviews that the husband of one of many slain academics died of a coronary heart assault on Thursday whereas getting ready for his spouse’s funeral.

At a briefing for reporters, DPS spokesperson Victor Escalon mentioned the gunman, Salvador Ramos, 18, made his method unimpeded on to the varsity grounds after crashing his pickup truck close by. The carnage started 12 minutes later.

Preliminary police reviews had mentioned that Ramos, who drove to the varsity from his dwelling after taking pictures and wounding his grandmother there, was confronted by a school-based police officer as he ran towards the varsity.

Instead, no armed officer was current when Ramos arrived on the college, Escalon mentioned. He mentioned nearly all of the killer’s gunfire got here within the early moments of the assault.

The suspect crashed his pickup truck exterior the varsity at 11:28 a.m. (1628 GMT), opened hearth on two individuals at a funeral dwelling throughout the road, then scaled a fence onto college property and walked into one of many buildings by way of an unlocked rear door at 11:40 a.m. (1640 GMT), Escalon mentioned.

Two responding officers entered the varsity 4 minutes later however took cowl after Ramos fired a number of rounds at them, Escalon mentioned.

The shooter then barricaded himself contained in the fourth-grade classroom of his victims, principally 9- and 10-year-olds, for an hour earlier than a US Border Patrol tactical crew breached the room and fatally shot him, Escalon mentioned.

The hour-long interval gave the impression to be at odds with an method adopted by many legislation enforcement companies to confront “active shooters” at faculties instantly to cease any additional bloodshed.

‘TOUGH QUESTION’

Asked if police ought to have made en masse entry sooner, Escalon answered, “That’s a tough question,” including that authorities would provide extra info because the investigation proceeded.

He described a chaotic scene after the preliminary trade of gunfire, with officers calling for backup and evacuating college students and employees.

In one video posted on Facebook by a person named Angel Ledezma, mother and father will be seen breaking by way of yellow police tape and yelling at officers to enter the constructing.

“It’s already been an hour, and they still can’t get all the kids out,” Ledezma mentioned within the video. He didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Another video posted on YouTube confirmed officers restraining not less than one grownup. One lady will be heard saying, “Why let the children die? There’s shooting in there.”

“We got guys going in to get kids,” one officer is heard telling the gang. “They’re working.”

‘AWARDS DAY’

Investigators have been nonetheless in search of a motive, Escalon mentioned. Ramos, a highschool dropout, had no prison document and no historical past of psychological sickness. Minutes earlier than the assault, nevertheless, he had written a web based message saying he was about to “shoot up an elementary school,” in response to Governor Greg Abbott.

Why a rear door to the varsity constructing can be left unsecured remained underneath investigation, Escalon mentioned.

Miguel Cerrillo, 35, and his 8-year-old daughter, Elena, a third-grader at Robb, mentioned the door the shooter used was often locked.

“But that day they were not locked because it was awards day, and some parents were coming in through those doors,” mentioned Elena, who was within the college on the time of the taking pictures. “The parking was really packed in front so people were parking back there and using that door.”

At least 17 individuals, together with youngsters, have been additionally injured within the bloodbath.

Uvalde County, one of many poorer in Texas, has 4 police personnel – a chief, a detective and two officers – to patrol 9 faculties in its district, with some “secondary” campuses assigned a safety guard, in response to the varsity district web site.

Teachers endure annual safety coaching, and college students are instructed in lockdowns, evacuations and different security procedures, it mentioned. Robb Elementary is enclosed inside a fringe fence.

The assault, coming 10 days after 10 individuals have been killed by an 18-year-old gunman in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, has reignited a nationwide debate over firearms. US President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats have vowed to push for brand spanking new gun restrictions, regardless of resistance from Republicans