‘Wrong Decision’ Not To Quickly Breach Uvalde Classroom Where Shooter Was Barricaded

Topline

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McGraw acknowledged Friday that police responding to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, made the “wrong decision” to consider that no children were at risk in a classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself in, as 911 calls indicated at least one child inside of the classroom was alive and requesting for help.

A memorial for the shooting victims outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 27, … [+] 2022. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

McGraw said police on the scene ultimately considered the situation as a barricaded suspect, instead of an active shooter, and they believed they had time to wait for tactical teams to arrive and get the keys to the classroom from a janitor.

The gunman, Salvador Ramos, entered the school at 11:33 a.m. through a door that was propped open by a teacher at 11:27 a.m., and the first three arriving officers entered the school through the same door at 11:35 a.m.

Ramos fired more than 100 rounds into classrooms 111 and 112 within minutes of entering the school, leading officers on the scene to believe there was no risk to other children because there “may not be anybody living anymore,” McGraw said.

However, a student inside one of the classrooms called 911 at 12:36 p.m., 12:46 p.m. and 12:47 p.m., when the child said “please send the police now,” though there were 19 officers already in the hallway at 12:03 p.m.

Tactical teams arrived on the scene at 12:15 p.m., and moved down the hallway at 12:21, but both classrooms were locked from inside, McGraw said.

A janitor provided the keys to classrooms, McGraw said, and tactical teams breached the doors at 12:50 p.m. and killed Ramos—about an hour and half after he walked into the school.

Crucial Quote

“In hindsight… it was the wrong decision,” McGraw said of the decision to consider the situation a barricaded suspect. “There was no excuse for that.”

Big Number

1,657. That’s how many rounds of ammunition Ramos brought to the school, according to McGraw, and he fired 315 rounds inside the school. Investigators found a total of 58 magazines on school property.

Key Background

Ramos purchased two AR platform rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition last week, just days after his 18th birthday, authorities said. Ramos sent a Facebook message Tuesday morning saying he was going to kill his grandmother, followed by a message confirming he had shot her in the head, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The third message, about 15 minutes before the shooting, stated he was going to shoot an elementary school. After shooting his grandmother, he drove a pickup truck to Robb Elementary School, where he crashed it into a ditch and fired toward two people outside of a funeral home across the street from the school. They got away uninjured. Ramos then walked down the street and fired rounds into the school, before climbing a fence and walking “unobstructed” into the school. Ramos’ grandmother is in stable condition in an area hospital.

Tangent

Video footage from outside the school showed parents begging for officers to enter the school while waiting for tactical units to arrive. In some cases, parents were pinned down and detained for allegedly interfering with the police investigation. Javier Cazares, whose fourth-grade daughter, Jacklyn, was killed in the attack, told the Associated Press he proposed charging into the school with other bystanders after he saw police officers gathered outside of the school while the gunman was inside. “Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” Cazares said.