Scathing report on deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas

A damning Justice Department report released this year on police failures during the school shooting Robb Elementary School in Uvaldea city in Texas, includes a minute-by-minute timeline of mistakes officers made at the scene.

Heavily armed police did not kill the 18-year-old attacker until 77 minutes after the first officers arrived at the school.

According to the report, during that time, the terrified students called the 911 from classrooms and parents begged the officers to come in.

Nineteen children and two teachers died in the massacre of May 24, 2022in the southern Texas town.

An earlier investigation by Texas lawmakers also pieced together the timeline of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

The Uvalde school shooting timeline

This is the Justice Department’s reconstruction of the shooting, which is similar to timelines previously provided by authorities:

11:21 am. The aggressor, Salvador Ramos, 18 years oldshoots his own grandmother dead in her home and then sends a message to an acquaintance telling them what he did and his plan to “shoot up an elementary school.”

11:28 am. The teen crashed the vehicle he stole from his grandparents’ home into a ditch about 100 yards from Robb Elementary School.

11:33 am. He enters the school through a closed but unlocked door, heads to classrooms 111 and 112 and opens fire on their doors from the hallway. The two classrooms are connected by an interior door.

11:36 am. The first police officers to respond to the emergency call enter the school. The attacker is shooting inside the two fourth grade classrooms. Two officers running towards the classrooms are hit by shrapnel and retreat.

11:38 am. The first request for activation of the Uvalde Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) is made over the radio. It is an elite police force used for high-risk operations.

11:39 am. A city police officer makes the first official request for shields. Officers in the hallway begin treating the attacker as a barricaded individual, rather than an active shooter.

Absence of command

11:40 am-12:21 pm. More officers from various police forces arrive. During these 41 minutes, according to the report, “there is great confusion, lack of communication, lack of urgency and absence of command.”

12:21 pm. Ramos fired four more shots inside the classrooms. At that point, the officers took up positions at the classroom doors, but did not enter. The officers then tried the keys to another door while searching for more keys and tools to force open that door.

12.48 pm. The officers open the door to room 111, which was probably unlocked. A minute or more passes before they enter the classroom and confront the attacker.

12:50 pm. The shooter was shot dead by officers after emerging from a closet and opening fire.

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