Police officers in Uvalde are facing intense scrutiny for how they handled the school shooting that happened Tuesday at Robb Elementary School. A total of 21 people—19 children and 2 adults—were killed in a 4th grade classroom by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos. Parents on the scene during the shooting believe that the cops there didn’t act fast enough.
In a video posted to Facebook, families are seen waiting outside Robb Elementary School upset by the police hesitation and even wanted to try entering the building themselves. During a press conference held Wednesday, Uvalde law officials claimed that they immediately engaged the shooter and pinned him down to prevent him from going into other parts of the school.
However, a department spokesperson said Thursday that they are uncertain if an hour or more had passed from when Ramos entered the school to when he was killed.
“Right now we do not have an accurate or confident timeline to provide to say the gunman was in the school for this period,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez told CNN. Olivarez also clarified that a school security officer outside was armed but that initial reports said he and Ramos exchanged gunfire need to be corroborated.
Ramos’ attacked ended when a U.S. Border Patrol team arrived and shot him to death. A fourth grader who survived the shooting told local news station Kens 5: ““When the cops came, the cop said: ‘Yell if you need help!’ And one of the persons in my class said ‘help.’ The guy overheard and he came in and shot her,” the boy said. “The cop barged into that classroom. The guy shot at the cop. And the cops started shooting.”