Since Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, details about what happened have been changed and updated by authorities.
Victor Escalon, regional director of the South Texas Department of Public Security, told reporters on Thursday that investigators are “still gathering a lot of information” about the shooting.
“We’re going to find out. With all the different agencies involved, we’re working from every possible angle. We won’t stop until we get all the possible answers,” he said at a press conference. †
Here’s the latest timeline of events that police say took place:
- Escalon said the suspect, Salvador Ramos, shot his grandmother and then wrecked his truck in a ditch outside the school at 11:28 local time Tuesday. He exited the truck with a rifle and shot two people across the street, Escalon said.
- The gunman then approached the school and fired multiple shots at the building, then entered through an apparently unlocked door 11:40 am, according to Escalon.
- That door is normally locked, “unless you go home on the school bus,” former principal Ross McGlothlin told DailyExpertNews’s Newsroom on Thursday.
- Escalon said the gunman was not confronted by a school employee outside the school. The same law enforcement agency previously said an officer had “engaged” him. “He walked in free at first,” Escalon said. According to currently available information, Escalon said no armed officer was immediately available.
- Inside, the suspect walked into a classroom and fired more than 25 times, Escalon said. Most of the gunfire was at the start of the attack, he added.
- Officers arrived at the school at 1 p.m 11:44 am, but when they went to confront the gunman, they received fire and took cover, Escalon said. They called for more resources and staff, evacuated students and teachers in other parts of the school, and at some point entered into ‘negotiations’ with the suspect, he said.
- A US Border Patrol tactical team came to the classroom, forced entry and shot the suspect dead after about an hourhe said.
Thursday’s press conference underlined the confusion and disorganization of the police response, and failed to answer questions about how the gunman was able to stay in the classroom for so long.
DailyExpertNews reported Thursday that the Uvalde school district where the shooting took place had a security plan that included its own police force, social media monitoring and a threat reporting system to “provide a safe environment” for students.
The two-page document on the district’s website lists 21 different measures it says it has taken to keep the school community safe, ranging from a bullying reporting app to physical security measures, such as fencing and a buzzing door system. It is not clear to what extent the plan was developed with active shooters in mind.
Officials defend response†
- Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez issued a statement on Thursday defending his officers’ reaction to the shooting. Two officers were shot by the suspect, but are expected to survive. “It’s important for our community to know that our officers responded within minutes,” he said, along with school officials.
- The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), meanwhile, said officers responding to the shooting saved lives, despite waiting before physically confronting the suspect holed up in a classroom. An agency spokesman said officers did not have enough information about the shooter’s exact location to carry out an immediate removal.
Eric Levenson, Holly Yan, Joe Sutton, Clare Foran, and Ted Barrett of DailyExpertNews contributed to this post.