The Texas Tribune has reviewed law enforcement transcripts and footage that federal and state investigators are examining after the May 24 tragedy.
For this article, the Tribune reviewed a timeline of events compiled by law enforcement, plus surveillance footage and transcripts of radio traffic and phone calls from the day of the shooting. The details were confirmed by a senior official at the Department of Public Safety. The investigation is still in the early stages, and the understanding of what happened could still change as video records are synched and enhanced.
Multiple Department of Public Safety officers — up to eight, at one point — entered the building at various times while the shooter was holed up. Many quickly left to pursue other duties, including evacuating children, after seeing the number of officers already there. At least one of the officers expressed confusion and frustration about why the officers weren’t breaching the classroom, but was told that no order to do so had been given.
During that burst of gunfire, the first three officers entered the school: two from the Uvalde Police Department and one from the school district’s force. All were carrying handguns. Since the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, an evolving and increasingly detailed body of training on mass shootings instructs police to confront shooters as soon as possible — even at the risk of officers’ lives.
"So, so I need you to bring a radio for me, and give me my radio for me," Arredondo said. "I need to get one rifle. Hold on. I’m trying to set him. I’m trying to set him up." The special agent from DPS who urged officers to go into the classroom stayed for six minutes before leaving to clear other rooms, rescuing a student found hiding in a bathroom. More troopers arrived just minutes or seconds before the tactical team from the Border Patrol stormed the classroom, but did not participate in the breach., had called him on his cellphone and told him she was bleeding heavily.The video from inside the hallway doesn’t capture what Ruiz did inside the school.
"He’s not my supervisor," the DPS agent countered before leaving the hallway to clear other rooms of children. By then, a long-awaited working key had been found. Officers inserted it into the door of room 111, and a tactical unit from the Border Patrol stormed in. All that’s audible from the video is a flurry of gunshots. The team then exited the room and indicated that the gunman was dead — 77 minutes after the carnage started.With the shooter killed, the excruciating aftermath began.
"The person who should be in charge is the person who has the best picture of what’s happening and also the skill set to manage what needs to happen," Blair said. He added, "Command exchanges are voluntary. They’re not forced. [Someone] can’t come in and say, ‘I’m taking it away from you.’"
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