The police arrived quickly at Robb Elementary School where a shooter was raging, but they waited more than an hour before intervening, confirmed Colonel Steven McCraw of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “It was the wrong decision,” he admitted to a horde of reporters.
Posted at 10:43 a.m.
Updated at 4:31 p.m.
McCraw said the Uvalde police chief believed the shooter had barricaded himself in a classroom and there were “no survivors.” He therefore decided to wait for the arrival of the tactical intervention team before confronting the killer. Salvador Ramos entered the school at 11:33 a.m.; the tactical team arrived on scene at 12:57 p.m.
“Of course, it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision, period. There is no excuse for this,” McCraw said.
The colonel claimed that the police should have “entered as soon as possible”. “When there is an active shooter, the rules change,” he pointed out.
The police officers of Uvalde had just undergone training on active shooters, revealed the New York Times. The top priority in this kind of intervention is to arrest the murderer by confronting him, the officers learned two months ago.
On Tuesday, they took 78 minutes to stop the carnage.
At 11:28 a.m., Salvador Ramos stuck his van in a ditch near the school. He fired at two people who were approaching the crash, but they evaded the bullets. The killer then targeted the classroom windows, then entered the establishment through a door left ajar by a teacher. Once inside, he fired his semi-automatic weapon more than 100 times, Colonel McCraw reported.
PHOTO MARCO BELLO, REUTERS
Salvador Ramos’ van got stuck in a ditch near the school.
At 11:35 a.m., seven police officers were already on the scene. One of the first responders also drove “right next to” the killer, but he had mistakenly identified a teacher as the suspect.
Two students, who were in the classroom where many of the children were killed, managed to call 911 several times during the shooting. The calls lasted from a few seconds to a few minutes.
At 12:03 p.m., one of the students whispered her name and indicated that she was in room 112. At 12:10 p.m., she called back to say that there were several deaths in her class. At 12:13 p.m. and 12:16 p.m., she claimed there were eight or nine students still alive, Colonel McCraw said.
PHOTO NURI VALLBONA, REUTERS
The girl, whose identity has not been revealed, said she could hear the voices of the police nearby, outside the school. “Please send the police quickly,” she pleaded. During one of the multiple calls, three shots were heard on the phone line.
The janitor’s keys were eventually needed to open the classroom door and take down the 18-year-old shooter. Nineteen children and two teachers perished.
“They should have acted more quickly”
The father of baby Amerie Jo Garza, one of the 21 victims, believes someone should be held accountable for the police bungling.
“They should have acted more quickly,” exclaimed Alfred Garza, to the CNN channel. “Time was running out […] By the time the cops decided to enter the building, it was already too late. »
Since Tuesday, Alfred Garza can’t stop thinking about his daughter and his comrades: could they have been saved if the police had intervened more quickly? The father told CNN he shares the anger other parents are feeling.
“We have to make sure that from now on, nothing like this will ever happen again or we have to be better prepared,” he said.
“People have died. My daughter is dead. Someone has to be held accountable,” he added.
The killer’s mother comes out of the shadows
Earlier in the morning, the mother of the Uvalde school shooter spoke to the media for the first time since her son killed 21 people, including 19 children.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY TELEVISA
The young man’s mother, Adriana Martinez
“I have no words, I have no words, I don’t know what he was thinking,” Adriana Martinez told CNN affiliate Televisa.
“He had his reasons for doing what he did and please don’t judge him. I just want the innocent children who died to forgive me,” she added.
The woman described her son as “calm”. “He didn’t bother anyone and never did anything to annoy others,” Salvador Ramos’ mother continued.
The 18-year-old man, who had just acquired two assault weapons for his birthday, no longer lived with his mother. He lived with his grandparents. Before going to Robb School to carry out a massacre there, he shot his own grandmother in the face. A projectile pierced her jaw and she will have to undergo major reconstructive surgery in a hospital in San Antonio, Rolando Reyes, the killer’s grandfather, told CNN.
He also said he knew many families who lost loved ones in the killings.
“Some of them are my friends and I will have to face them one day,” he said.
He added that the shooter’s grandmother, the one who was injured, “did everything for him” including cooking meals for him and picking him up after his late shifts at a fast food restaurant. The grandfather said he couldn’t understand why the 18-year-old attacked his grandmother.
The NRA assembly turned upside down
A few miles from Uvalde, the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting schedule, which begins on Friday, has been greatly disrupted by the killings. Several politicians and musical stars have announced that they will not participate in the congress which is being held three days after the carnage.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has canceled the talk he was to give in person. He will instead participate in a press conference regarding the shooting in Uvalde. This must take place at noon, Montreal time.
Mr. Abbott, a great defender of the right to possess a firearm, canceled the conference which he was to animate in front of the members of the NRA. He will still speak in a pre-recorded video, the newspaper said. Dallas Morning News. His deputy, Dan Patrick, will not be there in order to avoid “adding to the pain of the families”, he said in a press release.
Former President Donald Trump and Conservative Texas Senator Ted Cruz have confirmed their attendance at the NRA High Mass.
“Daniel Defense”, the manufacturer of the semi-automatic weapon used by the killer, announced that he would not attend the NRA assembly. “Daniel Defense is not attending the meeting due to the horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where one of our products was used for criminal purposes. We believe this week is not the appropriate time to promote our products in Texas at the NRA meeting,” said Steve Reed, vice president of marketing.
With CNN, AFP and The New York Times