Texas DPS director says law enforcement response to Uvalde school shooting ‘a miserable failure’
More details are coming to light following the deadly shooting at Robb Primary School in Uvalde where 19 primary students and two teachers were killed.
UVALDE, TX – The Texas Department of Public Safety has released a timeline of events surrounding the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, which left 19 people dead and two teachers dead.
Texas DPS tweeted the newspapers Tuesday morning ahead of DPS Director Steve McCraw’s testimony before the Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans. During the hearing, Colonel McCraw called the police response “an abject failure”, saying there were enough law enforcement on the scene to arrest the shooter within three minutes of his entry into the school.
AFTER: Texas police commander: Uvalde police could have ended the rampage early on
Part of the director’s background material for his testimony was a timeline compiled from a variety of sources, including funeral home footage, school surveillance footage, Uvalde Police Department 911 tapes and tapes. phone calls, and footage from law enforcement cameras.
Colonel McCraw told the Senate committee that Uvalde’s ISD leader, Pete Arredondo, put the lives of officers above the lives of children.
The chief is quoted in the newspapers as saying: “We have lost two children. These walls are thin. If he starts shooting, we’ll lose more kids. I hate to say we have to put them aside now. .”
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The timeline also quotes Arredondo several times talking about the need for a master key and the fact that the doors are locked, preventing them from entering the room with the shooter.
Nearly an hour after the suspect allegedly crashed his vehicle into a ditch, the chief reportedly said: ‘People are going to ask why we’re taking so long. We’re trying to preserve the rest of life.’
ANOTHER REPORT: Uvalde police had guns earlier than expected
In the newspapers you can also see a difference of opinion between anonymous officers and DPS special agents. When an SA DPS said, “If there are children in there, we have to go,” an unknown officer reportedly replied, “Whoever’s in charge will determine that.”
Throughout the timeline, it’s clear that no one knows what’s going on in the room where the shooter is.
It took 1 hour, 14 minutes and 8 seconds from when police entered the school to when they confronted the shooter and dismissed him, according to the timed log.
Below is the timeline of events surrounding the Uvalde school shooting as published by Texas DPS. (WARNING: There is explicit language that may not be suitable for all readers.)
11:28:25 – The suspect crashed his vehicle into a ditch
11:29:02 – Two men from the funeral home head for an accident
11:29:20 – Teacher calls 911 and reports a man with a gun
11:31:36 – Suspect shoots between two vehicles at school
11:31:43 – A patrol car speeds through the school parking lot, driven by the shooter
11:32:08 – Multiple shots fired by suspect outside school
11:33:00 – The suspect enters the school through the west door
11:33:24 – Suspect begins shooting into Class 111/112 from hallway
11:33:32 – The suspect enters, exits and re-enters room 111/112
11:35:55 - 3 Uvalde police officers enter through the west door (including 2 rifles)
11:36:00 – 2 UCISD officers (including Chief Arredondo) and 2 Uvalde police officers enter through the south gate
11:36:03 – 3 Uvalde PD agents and 1 UCISD agent enter through the west door
11:37:00 – Suspicious gunshots injuring officers approaching classroom doors
11:38:37 – Unknown officer: “He’s confined to this office.”
11:40:23 – Chief Arredondo calls the landline of Uvalde PD
11:40:58 – Suspicious gunshot (1 round)
11:41:08 – Uvalde PD Officer: “We believe he’s barricaded in one of the offices, there’s still shooting.”
11:41:30 – The dispatcher asks if the door is locked, to which an Uvalde police officer responds, “I’m not sure but we have a hooligan to break it.”
11:41:55 – 4 first responders enter from the east corridor: 2 gendarmes, the fire marshal, the UPD officer
11:42:24 – 1 DPS soldier and 2 UPD officers enter from the east corridor
11:44:00 – Suspicious gunshot (1 round)
11:44:28 – Uvalde PD Officer: “Ask available officers to bring everyone back.”
11:48:18 – UCISD officer Ruben Ruiz, husband of one of the class teachers, enters the west door and is heard telling the officers, “She says she’s shot.”
11:50:53 – Unknown officer says, “They need to get out of the hallway,” to which Uvalde’s forensic officer responds, “The chief is in there, the chief is in charge right now.”
11:51:13 – 7 Border Patrol Agents Enter West Gate
11:52:08 – The FIRST Ballistic Shield enters through the West Gate
11:52:49 – UPD officer: “Newly spawned units can help you control crowds.”
11:53:10 – An unknown officer informs a DPS special agent that all they need right now is the perimeter.
Someone comments if there are still children inside to which the DPS Special Agent responds, “If there are, they just have to come in.”
11:54:14 – The DPS Special Agent enters the west building and is directed to the location of the suspect. He asks an unknown officer, “Are the children still there?
The unknown officer replies, “He is unknown at the moment.”
11:54:15 – Uvalde PD Officer: “He’s in class 111 or 112, but the chief is contacting him. No one has contacted him.”
11:56:49 – Unknown officer: “You don’t know if there are children in there?”
DPS SA: “If there are children in there, we have to go.”
Unknown officer: “What is that?”
DPS SA: “If there are children in there, we have to go.”
Unknown officer: “Whoever is in charge will determine that.”
11:56:52 – PD channel recording: “Again, it’s critical that everyone lets PD get the upper hand on this.”
11:58:12 – After an unknown officer asked where the shooter was, another unknown officer advised him, “The school police chief is there with him.”
11:58:24 – DPS SA says, “It looks like a hostage rescue situation. It looks like a (undercover) rescue, they should probably go.”
12:01:13 – DPS SA indicates that he wants to go and clean more rooms. An unknown officer responds, “Don’t you think we should have this approved by a supervisor?” to which DPS SA responds,
“He’s not my supervisor.”
12:03:50 – A student’s 911 call inside the classroom begins
12:03:51 – The SECOND ballistic shield enters through the west door
12:04:16 – The THIRD ballistic shield enters through the west door
12:09:24 – Uvalde PD Officer: “Go around and get the master key to the rooms”
12:10:21 – Elements of BORTAC begin to arrive at primary school
12:11:00 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo asks for master key
12:14:45 – Chief Arredondo of Uvalde ID instructs officers to have a sniper on the east roof
12:15:27 – A member of BORTAC arrives in the west building
12:16:24 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “I just need a key.
12:17:22 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “Tell them fuckin’ wait. Nobody come in.”
12:20:46 – The FOURTH ballistic shield enters through the west gate
12:21:08 – Suspicious gunshot (4 shots)
12:21:30 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “Can you go get a breaching tool? Like for a trailer?”
12:23:21 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “We’ve lost two kids. These walls are thin. If he starts shooting, we’re gonna lose more kids. I hate to say we have to put them aside now.”
12:24:00 – Chief Arredondo of Uvalde ISD tries to communicate with the suspect in English and Spanish.
12:26:14 – Unknown officer. “There’s a professor shot in there” to which a police officer from Uvalde responds, “I say.”
12:27:08 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “People are going to ask why we’re taking so long. We’re trying to preserve the rest of life.”
12:27:29 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “Do we have a team ready to go? Do we have a team ready to go?
12:28:21 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “There’s a window over there obviously. The door is probably going to be locked. That’s the nature of this place. I’ll get some other keys to test.”
12:28:53 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “These master keys don’t work here, brother. We have master keys and they don’t work.’
12:30:00 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “Okay. We’ve cleared out everything but this room. We still have people over there just past the flag on the right. But, uh, we’re ready to pry but that door’s locked.”
12:33:44 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “I say we go through those windows and shoot his fucking head through the windows.”
12:35:39 – The Hooligan breaching tool enters the west gate
12:38:20 – Uvalde ID Chief Arredondo attempts to communicate with the suspect in English and Spanish.
12:41:58 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “Just so you understand, we think there are injuries in there. And just so you know what we’ve done, we’ve emptied the rest of the building so we don’t have any more on top of what’s ‘is already there, of course.”
12:42:11 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “We’re having a fucking problem getting into the room because it’s locked. He’s got an AR-15 and he’s shooting like crazy. So he stopped.”
12:43:20 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “They need to open that fucking door, bro. They can’t open that door. We need more keys or something.”
12:46:18 – Uvalde ISD Chief Arredondo: “If you’re ready to do it, do it but you should distract him through this window.”
12:47:57 – Sledge Hammer enters through the east hallway
12:50:03 – Violation and dismissal shots
