A review of surveillance footage and transcripts of radio traffic and phone calls by the Tribune — which says details were confirmed by a senior DPS official — placed the gunman firing in Class 111, briefly exiting the door, then going back in and opening fire. .
Within moments of the gunshot outbreak, 11 officers arrived on the scene, according to the Tribune report and confirmed by the law enforcement source to DailyExpertNews.
Arredondo telephoned Uvalde police shortly after the gunman fired at officers, according to the source, asking for further assistance and saying he did not have his radio with him.
Citing a transcript, the Tribune notes that “by the time Arredondo called 911, at least 11 officers had entered the school and the video shows at least two with guns. But Arredondo told the dispatcher that he didn’t have the firepower to confront the lone gunman.”
A security recording obtained by the Austin American-Statesman shows at least three officers in the hallway — two of whom have rifles and one officer who appears to have a tactical shield — at 11:52 a.m., 19 minutes after the gunman entered the school.
“If there are children there, we should go in there,” an officer said, according to the US statesman. Another officer replied, “Whoever is in charge will decide that.”
Officers had access to four ballistic shields in the school, the Tribune said, citing a law enforcement transcript, the fourth of which arrived 30 minutes before officers stormed the classrooms.
In the first minutes of their response, an officer also said a Halligan, a firefighting tool used for burglary, was on the scene, according to the Tribune. However, the tools were not brought into the school until an hour after the officers arrived and were never used, the Tribune said.
Towards the end of the standoff, according to the law enforcement source, Arredondo wondered aloud if officers would consider having him blasted through the window. A transcript from a body camera showed that at 12:46 AM, Arredondo told other officers that if a SWAT response team was ready, they should break through the door, a move that happened four minutes later.
DailyExpertNews has contacted both Arredondo’s attorney George Hyde and Uvalde Police about the reports.
“They should be trained professionals,” Flores said of the police. “I don’t understand why they stood aside for so long to get back in… Standing for a whole hour and letting them in with that shooter isn’t right. It’s cowardly, cowardly, cowardly stuff.’
The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Colonel Steven McCraw, is expected to testify before the Texas Senate Committee to Protect All Texans Tuesday, according to the Texas State Sen. office. Robert Nichols, who chairs the committee.
McCraw and his team will show photos and diagrams of the school showing the layout of the classrooms, according to Nichols’s office.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick tweeted that the Texas Senate hearings will have the “final DPS investigations into Uvalde.”
“The Senate believes that all testimonies should be made public. The families and the public have a right to know,” Patrick tweeted.
Rosalina Nieves and Dave Alsup of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report.
