While statistics show that most incidents of U.S. “active shooters” are over in minutes, Texas police took up to an hour to storm the classroom where gunman Salvador Ramos massacred 19 children and two teachers.
In a news release amid growing pressure on authorities to explain the response time, a senior official admitted it was a “wrong decision” for police on the site of the events in Uvalde to wait for an armed reservation before face.
While they waited, Ramos locked himself inside a fourth-grade classroom and was able to carry out the deadliest school shooting in the United States in nearly a decade.
Questions are growing about the response from agents: live updates on the Texas shooting
This is the chronology of the May 24 events, according to the latest details from the Texas Department of Public Safety (TDPS), video footage of the scene and 911 calls from teachers and students.
11.27 h
The door to the Robb Elementary School classroom that is known to have used the suspect is opened by a teacher.
11.28 h
Ramos collides with his grandmother’s truck near the school, at the intersection of Nicolas and Geraldine streets.
Get out of the car and cross the street to Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, where he shoots two men.
The suspect misses the two men, but one falls, before returning to the funeral home.
Ramos then climbs the fence to enter the school grounds.
11.30 h
A teacher calls 911 to report an “accident and a man with a gun.”
11.31 h
The suspect starts shooting through the class windows as he walks.
Meanwhile, a patrol vehicle arrives at the funeral home and a separate one arrives at the school.
An earlier police report stated that Ramos was “hired” by a school resources officer inside the campus, but the South Texas regional director of the TDPS told reporters Thursday that he “did not confront anyone” and that he did not there were no armed officers on the scene at the time.
Steve McGraw, director of TDPS, told a news conference on Friday that “sometimes witnesses are wrong,” adding: “The conclusion is that the officer was not on the scene, not on campus, but which immediately led to the area “.
11.32 h
Ramos shoots several shots at school.
11.33 h
He then enters the school through the open door and starts firing inside the classroom.
At least 100 rounds are audible from video testing.
Earlier, the TDPS said Ramos entered the school at 11:40 p.m.
11.35 h
Three officers from the Uvalde Police Department (UPD) enter the school through the same door as the suspect.
Four others follow, including an assistant sheriff from the county.
Two receive “grazing wounds” before they find the door closed.
11.37 h
Ramos shoots 16 more rounds.
11.51 h
The police sergeant and the USB agents arrive.
A schoolboy has told an American media outlet that his classmate was shot dead by Ramos after a police officer told them “call if you need help” and his shout revealed the its location.
Police are evacuating children from other parts of the school and asking for support.
Distressed parents gather outside the school at the intersection of Geraldine Street and Old Carizo Road; some try to enter the building and the police stop them.
11.54 h
Video footage of the scene shows parents criticizing police, saying “you have to get in.”
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1:08 Desperate relatives detained by police
12.03 p.m.
The first child calls 911 to tell him that he is inside the classroom on a call that lasts one minute and 23 seconds.
12.07 h
A live broadcast filmed by a viewer shows several armed individuals wearing body armor outside the school entrance.
A crowd gathers away from the school entrance and police cars are seen at the scene.
A helicopter is also seen flying overhead.
12.03 p.m.
More agents arrive at the school and up to 19 move into the hallway.
12.10 p.m.
The first child to call 911 called again to say that several people had died.
A U.S. Marshal service statement said they arrived at the scene at 12:10 p.m. to “assist federal, state and local security forces.”
According to the TDPS, BORTAC agents did not arrive for another five minutes.
12.13 p.m.
The first child to call 911 for the third time.
12.15 p.m.
Members of the Tactical Unit of the Border Patrol (BORTAC) arrive, some with shields.
12.16 p.m.
The first child to call 911 for the fourth time to say that between eight and nine students are still alive.
12.19 p.m.
A second child calls 911, but hangs up when his classmate tells him to.
12.21 p.m.
Ramos fires his weapon again, looking at the closed door. Some shots are heard on the second child’s 911 call.
Meanwhile, officers move down the hall to the door.
12.36 p.m.
The second caller calls again and is told to remain silent on the line, she whispers, “He shot at the door.”
12.38 h
The live broadcast shows an ambulance outside the school entrance.
12.42 h
The live broadcast shows someone wearing a school safety shield toward the school entrance.
Police are seen asking people to move behind the police tape, towards the funeral home.
Other agents can be seen outside the school entrance.
12.46 h
Live broadcasting is increasing to show many people in uniform outside the school entrance.
The second caller says he can hear police officers outside the classroom.
12.47 h
The second caller says, “Please send the police now.”
12.49 p.m.
The live broadcast shows a group of armed individuals dressed in green advancing towards the school entrance.
12.50 h
BORTAC agents open the door with the keys provided by a concierge. They hear shots on one of the 911 calls.
They move in and kill the suspect.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a law enforcement official said Border Patrol officers struggled to open the classroom door and had to wait for the janitor to open the door with a key.
12.51 p.m.
Emergency medical service audio picks up a message saying “shots fired.”
The live broadcast reveals a stretcher coming out of the school.
13.01 h
Two ambulances are seen outside the school entrance.
13.06 h
The UValde police department confirms that Ramos has been arrested.
The first priority of the police is “to enter and confront a gunman”
According to the TDPS, lifeguards waited for a backup of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) before entering the classroom where Ramos was.
Previously in the U.S., waiting for specially trained tactical equipment was the standard response to “active shooter” incidents.
But that changed after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, when 12 students and a teacher were killed while police waited an hour for a SWAT team to arrive.
The people involved usually operate in teams of four, so the guide changed to encourage the first four to chase the suspect.
Since then, this has been further changed to emphasize that police officers should do everything possible to stop the suspect from shooting and taking more lives.
Read more: Tributes as the 21 Texas victims named and pictured
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2:16 How the Uvalde school shooting unfolded
Texas State University’s Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT) is the largest shooter active response training provider in the United States.
They are recognized by the FBI and are responsible for training police throughout Texas.
His guide says: “The aim of law enforcement is to stop the active shooter as soon as possible. Officers will go directly to the area where the last shots were heard.”
He stressed that the “first priority is to move … avoid injuries and face the shooter.”
ALERRT also states that “active shooter situations often end in 10 to 15 minutes.”
An FBI study of 160 active shooter incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2013 found that most ended in five minutes or less, and about half ended in two minutes or less.
According to current estimates provided by officials, the time between the arrival of police and the murder of the gunman at Robb Elementary School was more than an hour.
Read more: Maps reveal the scale of armed violence in America
“They should have gone after him”
Contradictory reports from various law enforcement agencies, including the TDPS, the UValde police, and the U.S. Marshal Service, had caused confusion over the timeline.
And images on parents ’social media asking officers to storm the classroom have led to accusations that officials were too slow to confront the gunman.
Javier Cazares, whose fourth-grader daughter Jacklyn was killed in the shooting, said: “They say they rushed in … we didn’t see it.”
Read more: The girls survived by smearing themselves with blood and pretending to be dead
Image: The 19 child victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting
Dallas-based Christopher Suprun is director of clinical operations for the 9/11 Foundation and was a paramedic who responded on September 11th.
He told Sky News: “Part of the problem is that we didn’t have a clear timetable. It’s critical with such incidents to have a single voice that provides information to the community and the press.
“Not having it is unacceptable from a communications standpoint, but also from an incident management standpoint.”
Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International, which works on school safety in the U.S., said schedules can often remain unclear until “eight to 12 months” after the incident.
“The information we have a couple of weeks after an event is usually quite different from what we receive on the first day or two. And even that is usually quite inaccurate.”
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