Authorities said that about an hour elapsed between the first shots fired at the police by Salvador Rolando Ramos, who then barricaded himself in one of the classrooms, where he killed 19 children and 2 teachersand the moment the police tactical squad neutralized him.
Guidelines developed in the wake of the 1999 high school shooting in Columbine, Colorado, instruct law enforcement to immediately target the shooter.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety said the local police response is part of what the state’s Texas Rangers will look into as they investigate the shooting. .
For the moment, several questions remain unanswered, especially during this critical one-hour period, and the information is sometimes contradictory.
In a mid-afternoon press briefing, Public Safety Department Director for South Texas Victor Escalon was pressed with questions about the police response.
Could someone have arrived earlier?
he said. I don’t have enough information to answer this question at this time.
The answer will not be known until all the police officers who were at the scene have been questioned, he added. We won’t stop until we get all the answers
he assured. Give us time.
He also denied that there was an armed policeman on site who was specially assigned to school security, contrary to what the authorities had previously claimed. These had even reported a confrontation with the shooter when he entered the school.
The perpetrator of the shooting, identified as Salvador Ramos, initially entered unimpeded
explained Victor Escalon.
« From the house of [sa] Grandmother [à l’endroit où il a accidenté le camion] at [son entrée] inside the school, he didn’t confront anyone. »
He then fired several shots
in the halls of the school, until he entered a classroom, Mr. Escalon continued.
Two police officers from the municipal service then tried, without success, to enter the premises, before retreating to stand sheltered
because the shooter was firing in their direction, he added. They reportedly called in reinforcements within minutes of the first firefight.
During this time they make calls for help, they also evacuate students, teachers. There’s a lot going on
he argued.
Other police were also evacuating other classrooms, Escalon said.
The majority of the shootings took place at the start
he said, referring in passing to negotiations
with the shooter.
During the negotiations, there weren’t many gunshots except to try to keep the police at bay.
The chronology given by the authorities
- 11:28 a.m.: the gunman rams his vehicle into a fence near the school, where he fled after opening fire on his grandmother; he gets out of the vehicle with a semi-automatic weapon and ammunition, then shoots two passers-by; someone calls 911;
- 11:40 a.m.: he enters the school and fires shots, before barricading himself in a classroom;
- 11:44 a.m.: Police officers from Uvalde and the School District Police Department enter the school;
- Around 1 p.m.: the shooter was shot by the US Border Patrol tactical squad.
Aware of the criticism, Uvalde Police Department Chief Daniel Rodriguez said in a statement understand that questions arise
evoking theongoing investigation
led by the Texas Rangers.
« It is important for our community to know that our police officers responded within minutes alongside the police [du district scolaire consolidé indépendant] d’Uvalde. »
A 9-year-old boy interviewed by the CBS-affiliated KENS television network testified to the exchange of gunfire. The young survivor said he hid with classmates under a tablecloth-covered table when he heard the gunman open fire in his classroom door.
<q data-attributes="{"lang":{"value":"fr","label":"Français"},"value":{"html":"Quand il est entré, il a dit:”It’s time to die””,”text”:”When he walked in, he said: ”It’s time to die””}}”>When he walked in he said, ‘It’s time to die’he testified.
« When the police arrived, [un] policeman said, ‘Shout if you need help!’ And one of the people in my class said, ‘Help.’ The guy heard and he came in and shot her. »
The policeman entered the classroom. The guy shot the policeman. And the cops started shooting
he said.
According to a preliminary timeline compiled by Texas law enforcement and cited by the New York Timesthe majority of the victims, if not all, were killed within minutes of the shooter’s arrival at the school.
Helpless and Distraught Parents
Parents and residents of Uvalde interviewed by US media have expressed anger over the police response time.
Javier Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter was killed, for example told the New York Times that the authorities had distorted reality. They said they rushed in and all that ain’t what we saw
he lamented.
The 43-year-old father said he did not understand why the police were stood there
as long as. There were plenty of men outside, armed to the teeth, who could have gotten in quicker. Could have been over in minutes
he believes.
A mother of two students at the school, Angeli Rose Gomez, who says she pleaded with the police to enter the school, told the Wall Street Journal being handcuffed by federal agents for obstructing an operation In progress
. A father would have been sprayed with pepper spray.
Several videos posted on social media show alarmed parents, begging the police to enter the school or let them through in the hope of going to save their children.
In one of them, we hear a man say: [Les enfants] are all in there, the cops don’t do nothing but stay out
. You know they are little children, right? Little kids, they don’t know how to defend themselves
he says to the police.
Biden will travel to Uvalde on Sunday
The White House has also indicated that President Joe Biden will go to Uvalde on Sunday to meet with bereaved families.
This will be his second visit to relatives of shooting victims in less than two weeks. Early last week he had traveled to Buffalo, New York, where a shooter had shot dead 10 residents of an African-American community Few days ago.
Over the past few days, the US President has called on elected officials to “confront the arms lobby”then saying that the Second Amendment was “not absolute”.
On this issue, as on so many others, the ideological divide between the Democratic and Republican camps is gaping.