The Texas gunman is estimated to have been in the school for 40 minutes to an hour
Footage has emerged of desperate parents pleading with police to go into the school their children were in whilst a gunman opened fire.
On Tuesday morning, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother in the face before taking her car to drive to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a rifle.
He then opened fire on a classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers, before he was killed by police.
But witnesses have now described how distraught parents were urging officers to do something as they stood outside the school, whilst the gunman was still inside.
Footage has been shared online of the harrowing scene outside the school as parents looked on, urging police officers to go into the building and apprehend the gunman.
Sharing a video which appears to be from outside the school, one Twitter user said “cops literally stopped parents from helping their kids.”
This video make so much more sense now. The cops literally stopped parents from helping their kids. pic.twitter.com/zhQfUjlpjd https://t.co/DqgZUH3uCC
— Matt Novak (@paleofuture) May 26, 2022
Juan Carranza, a witness who saw the scene from his house, said that women were shouting at officers to “go in there,” AP reports.
Javier Cazares, whose daughter Jacklyn was killed in the attack, said he suggested charging into the school with other bystanders.
“Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” he said.
Another clip shows onlookers across the road from the school urging police to go into the building.
Video of Uvalde parents with cops — "y'all keep fighting with us, go fight that mfer!" pic.twitter.com/icDG2J595a
— ✨TheStarsAtNight ✨ (@Star5AtNight) May 26, 2022
According to Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Travis Considine, Ramos “encountered” a school district security officer outside the school. It is unclear if the men exchanged fire.
He then ran inside and shot at two arriving Uvalde police officers who were outside the building, injuring them both.
Once inside, he charged into a classroom.
Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Department of Public Safety told CNN that the 18-year-old “barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom.”
He added that all of those killed were in the same classroom.
Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said that 40 minutes to an hour passed between Ramos entering the school and him being shot by the tactical team.
“The bottom line is law enforcement was there,” McCraw said. “They did engage immediately. They did contain (Ramos) in the classroom.”
The attack is the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school since a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 first-graders, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
Related links:
- Texas shooting: Gunman posted warnings on Facebook just minutes before shooting
- Texas shooting: 10-year-old girl was shot as she called 911, heartbroken grandmother says
- Texas school shooting: Tearful NBA coach slam’pathetic’ US gun control in powerful speech
