“Please, send in the police now.”
A girl sounded the alarm from inside the classroom when the perpetrator fired more than 100 shots.
19 policemen stood outside in the corridor and waited – for 78 minutes.
“It was the wrong decision,” said Steven C. McCraw, of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The police made mistakes that did not intervene earlier during the school massacre in Uvalde.
This was stated by Steven C. McCraw, head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, during a press conference.
18-year-old perpetrator Salvador Ramos shot. And shot. And shot.
Over 100 shots were fired inside the classroom.
But it took an hour and 18 minutes before the police entered the hall. 19 children and 2 teachers died at Robb Elementary School, reports the New York Times.
Criticism of the police has been sharp, especially from relatives to the victims.
– With the results in hand, it was of course not the right decision. It was the wrong decision. “There is no excuse for that,” Steven C. McCraw, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a news conference, CNN reported.
According to McCraw, the police were first waiting for reinforcements, following a decision by an officer. The assessment was then made that the shooter had barricaded himself.
– It was believed that there was no one left alive and that the perpetrator was now trying to keep the police at a distance or get them to go in and kill the perpetrator, he says.
The school massacre – minute by minute
On Friday, a timeline of what happened was published – minute by minute.
11.28: The perpetrator has shot his grandmother in her home. He drives towards the school and crashes his vehicle into a ditch. Two men at a nearby funeral home run out to see what happened. The perpetrator steps out and shoots at them. They flee unharmed and the man walks towards the school.
11.28–11.29: A teacher stands at the school entrance and sees what is happening, runs to a classroom and picks up a phone. Hen runs back to the entrance, panics and runs into the school. The entrance door is left open.
11.30: Alarm call. A white man has crashed a car and has a weapon.
11.31: The perpetrator is standing in the school parking lot. Hides behind a vehicle and shoots at the building.
11.32: More shots are fired at the building.
11.33: The perpetrator enters the school. He starts firing inside classrooms numbers 111 and 112. Over 100 shots are fired.
11.35: Three police officers arrive at the school. They enter through the entrance and four colleagues follow. A total of seven police officers on site.
11.37: Another 16 shots are fired.
11.40: More shots.
11.44: More shots.
11.51: Two more police officers arrive.
12.03: More police on site. A total of 19 police officers are now in the school corridor. At the same time, a girl calls 911. She whispers that she is in classroom number 112.
12.10: The same girl calls 911 again. She says several people are dead.
12.13: The girl calls 911 – again.
12.15: The Border Police Task Force arrives at the scene.
12.16: The girl calls and sounds the alarm again. Fourth time. She says that 8 or 9 people are alive.
12.19: A girl in classroom number 111 calls and sounds the alarm, but other students ask her to hang up.
12.21: The perpetrator is believed to be standing near the door in the classroom. He shoots again and the shots are heard in an ongoing call to 911. At the same time, the task force moves along the corridor towards the classroom.
12.36: Girl calls 911 – again. The alarm operator tells her to be quiet, but not hang up. The girl says that the perpetrator shoots at the classroom door.
12.43: The girl calls again. “Please, send the police here now.” She says she can hear that the police are outside the classroom.
12.50: The police open the door with keys from the caretaker. The perpetrator is shot and dies.
1. The perpetrator crashes with his vehicle.
2. The perpetrator shoots at people at a funeral home.
3. Here he goes to school.
4. Over 100 shots are fired inside the classroom.