Authorities provided inconsistent and shifting information about what happened and how they responded in the days and hours following Tuesday’s fatal shooting at Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas.
While the investigation into the massacre is ongoing and much more is known about the two-hour period between the time Salvador Ramos killed his grandmother and the time police radio traffic indicated that the gunman, aged 18, was dead and that the siege was over, there is still much to be learned.
TIMELINE
According to Steve McCraw, Texas Public Safety Director, Ramos shot his grandmother in the head sometime after 11 a.m. Gilbert Gallegos (82), who lives across from Ramos’ grandmother and heard the shot while he was in his backyard, reported that he heard it. He sprints to the front, seeing Ramos drive away in a pickup truck. Ramos’ grandmother comes towards him, pleading for help. He was covered in blood and she said, “Berto, that is what he did.” Gallegos claims that he shot me. His wife called the police to report the shooting.
McCraw stated that 11:27 AM was the time McCraw captured a teacher prying open an exterior school door.
McCraw stated that the teacher leaves at 11:28 to retrieve a cell phone, and then returns through an open exit door. It is not clear why the teacher was attempting to retrieve a phone. Travis Considine, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, stated Thursday that investigators have not determined why the door was propped open.
McCraw stated that Ramos crashed the pickup into a drainage ditch near the school at 11:28 AM. Two men from a nearby funeral home heard the crash and ran to investigate. Ramos, a man with an AR-15-style rifle, and a bag containing ammunition, appears to be rushing out from the passenger side. Ramos shoots at the men but doesn’t strike them. Both men make it to the funeral home, but one of them falls. The panicked teacher calls 911 after he emerges from school.
McCraw stated that 911 received a call at 11:30 AM reporting that there had been a crash and that there was a man carrying a gun at school.
McCraw stated that Ramos starts shooting at the school starting at 11:31 AM. As police cars arrive at the funeral home McCraw said. Ramos then moves around the school building.
McCraw stated Friday that the school district officer who was on duty that day wasn’t present at campus. This contradicts previous reports. After receiving the 911 call, the officer drove to the school and approached the man at the back who he believed was the gunman. McCraw stated that the officer “accelerated” towards the man who turned out be a teacher and “drove right past the suspect who was hunkered behind” a vehicle.
McCraw stated that Ramos fired multiple shots at the school before making his way towards the open door at 11:32 AM.
11:33 a.m. — Five minute after smashing the pickup, Ramos walks into the school and starts shooting into the adjoining classrooms 111 and 112, McCraw stated. He fires over 100 rounds.
11:35 a.m. – Three police officers from the city enter the school through the same entrance as Ramos. They are then followed by four more officers, McCraw stated. This brings the total number of seven officers to the building. McCraw stated that Ramos inflicted “grazing wounds on” two officers.
McCraw stated that 16 rounds were fired in total at 11:37 AM. The shooter is unknown.
McCraw stated that McCraw was greeted by a police sergeant as well as other law enforcement officers at 11:51 AM.
12:03 p.m. — An unknown female calls 911 and whispers that McCraw is her teacher in classroom 112. The call lasts for 1 minute and 23 seconds.
12:03 p.m. — There are 19 officers still in the school’s hallway, McCraw stated.
12:06 PM — Anne Marie Espinoza is a spokesperson for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. She posted on the district’s facebook page: “All campuses have a Lockdown Status.
“Uvalde CISD Parents”: All campuses are currently under lockdown due to the gunshots in this area. Students and staff are safe within the buildings. The buildings are in Lockdown status. Please cooperate by not visiting campus. You will be notified as soon as the Lockdown Status has been lifted.
“Thanks for your cooperation!”
12:10 p.m. — A female (age unknown), who called 911 at 12.03 p.m., calls McCraw again to report that there are multiple deceased. She calls back at 12:13 p.m. again, and again at 12 :16 p.m. when she claims there are eight to nine students still alive.
12:10 PM — The first group, consisting of two deputy U.S. Marshals from Del Rio, arrives from approximately 70 miles (113 km) away to help the other law enforcement officers on the scene. According to the Marshals Service.
McCraw stated that U.S. Border Patrol tactical teams arrived with shields at 12:15 p.m.
12:19 PM — A second girl in room 112 calls 911. McCraw ended the call by telling McCraw to hang up.
12:21 p.m. — Ramos fires again his gun and officers believe that he is at the door to one of the adjacent classrooms. McCraw stated. The police move down the hall.
McCraw stated that three shots could be heard during a 911 call at 12:21 p.m.
Police are trapped in the hallway at this point because both classroom doors are locked. They must get keys from school employees.
12:36 p.m. — A 21-second call from a child to 911.
McCraw stated that a young girl dials 911 at this point. She is instructed to remain on the phone and be very quiet. The girl responds, “He shot the door.”
12:43 p.m. — The girl asks the 911 dispatcher “Please send the police now”.
12:46 p.m. — The little girl claims she can hear the police next to her.
12:47 p.m. — She asks 911 again to “please send police now.”
12:50 p.m. — Two officers open the doors using keys provided by a school employee and enter the classroom to kill Ramos, McCraw stated. You can hear shots over the 911 call.
McCraw stated that officers can be heard moving children from the room at 12:51 p.m.
12:58 p.m. — Radio chatter from law enforcement radios claims Ramos is dead and the siege has ended, according to Victor Escalon (regional director, Texas Department of Public Safety).
