Children attacked by Texas gunman called for help as police awaited support, official says

Young children called emergency services from inside the schoolroom at Uvalde in Texas that was being attacked by a gunman pleading for help but police waited outside the door for specialist backup, authorities have confirmed.

“With the benefit of hindsight, of course, it was not the right decision.” “It was the wrong decision, period. There is no excuse for that,” the head of the Texas department of public safety said on Friday.

At a press conference in Uvalde, police chiefs acknowledged that they acted too slowly to confront the gunman.

Col Steven McCraw set out a series of errors and mistakes last Tuesday when an 18-year-old with an assault rifle killed 19 children and two teachers at the Robb elementary school in Uvalde.

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He said a rear door to the school that was supposed to be locked had been propped open by a teacher.

A resource officer, or guard, was not at the school at the time of the incident but responded when he heard about the shooting.

The gunman, Salvador Ramos, fired more than 100 rounds starting at 11:33am on Tuesday. Four minutes later, he fired an additional 16 rounds. He was carrying 1,657 rounds of ammunition.

It took about an hour for police to storm the schoolroom and kill the gunman.

Col McCraw said there were 19 law enforcement officers in the hallway in school at the time. He said a decision was taken by the Commander on the scene that the situation had transitioned from an active-shooter situation to one in which the gunman had barricaded himself in a room and there was no further children at risk.

[ Texas school shooting: Questions persist in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy ]

However he said there were children still at risk inside the classroom.

Col McCraw read details of a series of phone calls made to the 911 emergency services from children inside the building with the gunman. He said in some calls children whispered that there was a gunman in the room and could the police come and help them.

Col McCraw said there were plenty of officers available but the local Commander had decided to wait for specialist equipment and other personnel to arrive on the scene.

He said the Commander on the scene thought he had time and there were no further children at risk.

Col McCraw said the safety doctrine in Texas dictated that in the event of active gunman, police officers should “stack up and keep shooting until the suspect is dead”.

Col McCraw said the gunman commenced shooting at the school at 11:33 on Tuesday morning.

More than an hour later, at 12:36, a child called 911 and was told to stay quiet, and at 12:47 she asked them to “please send the police now,” he said.

Police did not provide details on whether any children had died in the period in which officers waited outside. However Col McCraw said two who had phoned the 911 emergency helpline survived.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022