Texas’ public safety chief said Friday it was a bad decision for police not to immediately breach the Uvalde classroom where a gunman eventually shot and killed 19 children and two teachers.
Texas Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a news conference, “From the benefit of back sight …
“From what we know, we believe there should have been an entry sooner,” McCraw said, “If I thought it would help, I apologize.”
Police in the Texas city have come under angry criticism since Tuesday’s tragedy over why it took an hour to neutralize the gunman – who was stopped inside a classroom at Robb Elementary School. With a flurry of questions shouted during an intense briefing in Uvalde, McCraw once again sought to explain the sequence of events.
He said the on-scene commander believed the suspect at the time, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, was alone in the class – and that no one survived the gunman’s initial shooting spree.
“I’m not defending anything, but you go back in the timeline, there was a barrage, hundreds of rounds were pumped in four minutes, well, those two classes,” McCraw said.
“Any subsequent firing was sporadic and it was at the door. Hence the belief that one can no longer survive and the subject is now trying to deter law enforcement or tempting them to commit suicide in order to get in touch. ,
However, McCraw told reporters separately that at 12.16 a.m. a 911 call was received – one of many made from inside the classroom – reporting eight or nine children still alive. The door was finally broken at 12.50 pm.
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