Tipsheet

We Know Why Police Didn't Breach the Classroom to Confront Texas Shooter...And They Admit It Was a Mistake

The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steven C. McCraw, was back for another press conference in the aftermath of the heinous school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Salvador Ramos, 18, shot and killed 19 kids and two teachers. There has been a lot of back and forth concerning the timeline. The first trove of updates from officials was contradicted within 36 hours’ time. We had reports of the Ramos being confronted by police, and then he wasn’t. The school resource officer confrontation was a piece of information that’s been clarified. While the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District has six resource officers, one was not on campus at the time of the shooting. Why? Col. McCraw said he can’t offer any more specifics.

Col. McCraw went through the entire timeline—though this could be subject to change. 

Via WFAA:

The 911 call was placed at 11:30 a.m., reporting there was a crash and a man with a gun.

One minute later, Ramos arrived outside the school and began shooting toward classrooms, firing up to 100 rounds.

As he shot at the school, responding officers went to the nearby funeral home, near where Ramos crashed and shot at the two men.

One of the responding officers from the school district drove past Ramos, who was hunkered down behind a vehicle, McCraw said.

At 11:33 a.m., Ramos entered the school through the door that was propped open. He began shooting into a classroom, firing more than 100 rounds, according to audio evidence, McCraw said.

At 11:35 a.m., three Uvalde police officers entered the building, McCraw said. They were joined by four other officers.

The three initial officers who arrived went to the closed classroom door and were grazed by gunfire.

More gunfire was heard from inside the classroom at 11:37 a.m., 11:38 a.m., 11:40 a.m. and 11:44 a.m., McCraw said.

At 11:51 a.m., more police and federal agent started to arrive. Shortly after noon, there were at least 19 officers inside the hallway outside of the classroom, McCraw said.

At 12:15 p.m., tactical officers arrived, and the suspect fired again. About six minutes later, officers began moving down the hallway toward the classroom.

At 12:50 p.m., officers entered the classroom through the door after using keys they got from the janitor, and they shot and killed Ramos, McCraw said.

Ramos had 58 magazines with him, though not all were found on his person when he was finally neutralized by police. As for police not being inside the building, there were—19 of them. Several officers were on the scene immediately. Why didn’t officers breach the classroom door where Ramos was holed up? The incident commander on scene felt that it was no longer an active shooter situation. They felt that no kids were inside the classroom and that there was time to obtain keys from a custodian to unlock the door and breach the room with a tactical team. The school doors lock from the inside. How many kids died in that 48-minute window between locating Ramos’ location and breaching the door is not known. Col. McCraw couldn’t give an answer. Yet, there was a flurry of 911 calls coming from the school and its students, so I’m sure we’ll learn more about that miscommunication. McCraw admitted this was a grave error. With the benefit of hindsight, this was the wrong decision. 

The Texas DPS head also cleared up some early reports about Ramos’s social media postings. He did not post about his intention to kill his grandmother or shoot up a school publicly. It was sent via messenger. He had asked his sister to help him obtain firearms which she flatly rejected. 

Texas law enforcement has been besieged with questions especially since the Associated Press released a video of onlookers and anxious parents urging police to enter the school to stop the rampage. This whole situation is abysmal. Nineteen kids are dead. The police response was bungled. This small border city has been shattered. And to finally hear the police admit that their response to this heinous crime was calamitous probably pours more salt in the wounds. 

From top to bottom, this appears to be an absolute failure, but we’ll keep you updated.