Official Says Uvalde Police Waited Because Commanding Officer Believed ‘Kids Weren’t At Risk’

The director of the Texas Division of Public Security admitted on Friday that it was the “flawed resolution” for greater than a dozen officers to attend exterior a classroom door as a shooter killed youngsters inside earlier this week.

“With the good thing about hindsight, the place I’m sitting now, after all it was not the proper resolution, it was the flawed resolution, there was no excuse for that,” DPS director and colonel Steven McCraw advised reporters.

The admission comes days after 19 children and two teachers were gunned down at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday.

Not less than 19 cops waited exterior of the classroom door the place the suspect was taking pictures as a result of a commanding officer on scene believed it was a “barricaded topic” and never an energetic shooter. That officer was flawed.

“I wasn’t there, however I’m telling you from what we all know,” McCraw advised reporters. “When there’s an energetic shooter, the principles change, it’s now not a barricaded topic, you don’t have time.”

Greater than 40 minutes handed from the time the shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, entered the varsity to when he was ultimately killed. Throughout that point, youngsters positioned calls to 911 begging for assist as operators may hear gunshots being fired within the background, McCraw stated.

However police stood by, as a result of an unnamed commanding officer believed the gunman had barricaded himself and wished to attend for a tactical group as a substitute of participating with the gunman.

“I wasn’t there,” McCraw repeated on the press convention, “however a choice was made that this was a barricaded topic, and that there was time to retrieve the keys and await a tactical group with tools to breach the doorways.”

“That was the thought course of at that specific time,” McCraw added.

In one of many 911 calls that passed off simply after midday, a girl stated 12 individuals in her classroom have been lifeless however that eight to 9 college students have been nonetheless alive. Minutes later, at 12:21 pm, an operator may hear three pictures fired within the background. Police exterior the room nonetheless didn’t act, in line with the brand new timeline supplied by McCraw.

Police have been ultimately capable of get keys from the varsity janitor to enter the lecture rooms, the place they lastly killed the gunman.