A timeline of the Robb Elementary Faculty capturing in Uvalde, Texas, and the police inaction that day
- On Might 24, 2022, a shooter opened hearth at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, Texas.
- This timeline reveals how the gunman killed 19 kids and two lecturers earlier than police killed him.
- College students positioned 911 calls that counsel the gunfire lasted lengthy after authorities mentioned they arrived.
On Tuesday, Might 24, an 18-year-old gunman opened hearth on kids and lecturers at Robb Elementary Faculty in Uvalde, Texas.
Two lecturers and 19 kids have been killed, making it the deadliest faculty capturing because the Sandy Hook bloodbath in 2012. Over an hour after police arrived, legislation enforcement shot and killed the gunman on the scene.
On July 17, 2022, the Texas Home of Representatives launched a committee report detailing its investigation into the capturing and a timeline of occasions that occurred earlier than, throughout, and after the bloodbath.
September 2021 to February 2022: The shooter asks his sister to assist him purchase a gun and purchases gun equipment and ammunition
Whereas nonetheless 17, the shooter requested no less than two folks, together with his sister, to purchase him a gun, however each refused, in line with the report. In November 2021 and February 2022, the shooter additionally purchased a number of gun-related equipment on-line, together with rifle slings, a navy vest, and 60 rounds of ammunition, the report says.
April 2022: The shooter begins to allude to plans of violence on social media
On April 2, 2022, the shooter requested an Instagram consumer if they’d “bear in mind me in 50-something days” in a message. When the consumer responded “in all probability not,” the shooter mentioned “we’ll see in Might,” in line with the report.
“The attacker usually linked these dates with doing one thing that will make him well-known and put him ‘all around the information,’ and plenty of of these with whom he chatted suspected his cryptic deadlines meant violence,” the report says. “For instance, in a Might 14th dialog he merely wrote ’10 extra days.'”
Might 16, 2022: The shooter buys a semiautomatic rifle the day after he turns 18
He purchased two assault weapons within the days after he turned 18 on Might 16, 2022, the report says.
On Might 16, he bought a Daniel Protection AR-15-style rifle and 1,740 rounds of ammunition, in line with the report.
Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez additionally mentioned the gunman’s posts on social media “recommended the children ought to be careful,” the AP reported.
Might 17: The shooter purchases a second ‘Ar-15 fashion’ rifle
The following day, the shooter purchased a Smith & Wesson AR-15-style rifle and returned the next day to purchase a further 375 rounds of ammunition, spending a complete of no less than $4,897 on weapons, in line with the report.
Might 24, morning: schoolchildren put together for end-of-year festivities
College students had been invited to put on “a pleasant outfit with enjoyable/fancy footwear” as a part of the college’s end-of-year celebrations, in line with a schedule posted on the college’s Fb web page. These celebrations included an honor roll award ceremony.
The scholars at Robb Elementary had two days left within the faculty yr.
Might 24, 11:21 a.m.: The gunman sends a textual content message saying he shot his grandmother
At 10:50 a.m., the gunman texts a pal in Germany telling her he was indignant at his grandmother and going to “do one thing to her rn.”
Fifteen minutes later, he despatched two extra messages saying he shot his grandmother and goes to shoot folks on the faculty. The German teen responds with one phrase, in line with the report: “Cool.”
11:28 a.m.: The gunman crashes right into a ditch close to the college
Texas Division of Public Security Director Steve McCraw mentioned the shooter had been residing together with his grandmother since March 2022, and he used her automotive to drive roughly two miles, crashing when he was “a couple of block and a half away from the college.”
“He crashed the automobile at that time limit,” McCraw mentioned in a press convention after the capturing. “He exited with a backpack. He took a rifle with him.”
Eduardo Trinidad, an eyewitness to the aftermath of the crash, instructed native outlet KPRC-2 that the automobile went via a barricade and right into a concrete ditch.
Juan Carranza instructed the Related Press he additionally noticed the crash and that the gunman fired at two folks outdoors a close-by funeral house.
11:29 a.m.: A instructor sees the gunman approaching the constructing, closes the open door on the college’s west facet, and calls 911
Police initially mentioned a instructor left a door open on the college’s west finish that allowed the gunman to enter the constructing, however surveillance video reveals the educator closed the door earlier than he reached it, the report says.
11:31 a.m.: The gunman walks via the college’s car parking zone
Public security officers initially mentioned an armed faculty useful resource officer approached the gunman earlier than he entered the college, and that there was an trade of gunfire.
However Victor Escalon, a regional director for the Texas Division of Public Security, mentioned at a press convention days later that wasn’t true.
“It was reported {that a} faculty district police officer confronted the suspect,” Escalon mentioned. “That is not correct,” he added. “[The gunman] walked in unobstructed initially.”
Within the 12 minutes between arriving at and coming into the college, the gunman shot at two funeral employees and the college itself earlier than police confirmed up.
11:31 a.m.: faculty useful resource officer drives previous gunman, unintentionally confronts instructor as an alternative
Texas legislation enforcement officers mentioned a college useful resource officer drove previous the 18-year-old gunman outdoors Robb Elementary Faculty and unintentionally confronts a instructor as an alternative.
After a instructor calls police to report that somebody had crashed a automobile in a ditch at 11:30 a.m., the gunman then started capturing on the faculty, McCraw instructed reporters in the course of the press convention.
11:33 a.m.: The suspect enters the college
The shooter enters the college, seemingly via the door on the west finish of the constructing that the instructor had closed earlier, the report says.
The door was both “already unlocked or the lock failed to have interaction, which the instructor couldn’t have identified as a result of the doorways lock from the skin,” the report says.
Based on the report, none of three exterior doorways to the college have been locked, which is a violation of college coverage.
The shooter walks via the hallway after which enters room 111 and begins capturing, the report says. The shooter briefly leaves the room, then returns and begins capturing once more in rooms 111 and 112, which have been linked.
He fired no less than 100 rounds in simply over two and a half minutes inside rooms 111 and 112, the report says.
“The attacker fired most of his photographs and sure murdered most of his harmless victims earlier than any responder set foot within the constructing,” the report says.
Talking on the “Right now” present, Lt. Chris Olivarez mentioned the shooter had “barricaded” himself in a single classroom the place all his victims have been clustered. Notably, the shooter was ready to do that regardless of the college district’s complete safety plan, which included law enforcement officials and locking doorways.
“He started capturing kids, lecturers, anyone that was in his approach. He was capturing those that have been in entrance of him,” Olivarez instructed KPRC-2.
11:35 a.m.: Officers arrive and enter the college
At 11:35 a.m., two separate teams of law enforcement officials enter the constructing via two totally different doorways, the report says. One of many doorways that police entered via was the identical door the shooter used to get into the constructing.
11:37 a.m.: The shooter fires at officers and drives them again
Two officers strategy the divider between rooms 111 and 112, however the suspect fires at them, inflicting const
ructing particles to graze the officers, the report says. Each officers didn’t return hearth, in line with the report.
11:38 a.m.: Regulation enforcement believes the shooter is contained
Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo checks room 110 and tells different officers there have been no kids inside as a result of it was awards day, the report says.
Arredondo testified that “he prayed that if Room 110 was empty, the youngsters could be gone from the rooms occupied by the attacker as properly.”
Police started treating the shooter as a “barricaded topic” moderately than an “lively shooter” at this level, and by no means modified their designation of his menace stage all through the altercation after it, the report says.
11:43 a.m.: Faculty officers put up a public discover saying they’re on lockdown
“Please know at the moment Robb Elementary is underneath a Lockdown Standing attributable to gunshots within the space. The scholars and employees are secure within the constructing. The constructing is safe in a Lockdown Standing,” learn a discover posted on the college’s Fb web page.
Shortly after got here one other put up: “There may be an lively shooter at Robb Elementary.” The college mentioned legislation enforcement was “on web site.”
Onlookers urge legislation enforcement to confront the shooter
Onlookers outdoors the college urge police to cost the scene and confront the shooter, even getting so annoyed with the inactivity that they counsel dashing the college themselves.
Javier Cazares, whose fourth-grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, died within the rampage, mentioned he arrived to the scene and noticed legislation enforcement officers ready outdoors the constructing.
“Let’s simply rush in as a result of the cops aren’t doing something like they’re presupposed to,” he instructed the Related Press. “Extra may have been achieved. They have been unprepared.”
A spokesperson from Texas’ Division of Public Security instructed Insider on the time that it was his “understanding” that “a number of legislation enforcement responded and began to make entry into the college to evacuate college students, lecturers, and employees.”
A mom breaks a police line to rescue her children
Angeli Rose Gomez, a mom of two college students at Robb Elementary, runs previous a police line and jumps a fence to rescue her kids from the college, the Wall Avenue Journal reported.
Gomez mentioned she drove 40 miles to the college after listening to in regards to the capturing, and located legislation enforcement simply standing outdoors when she acquired there.
Mother and father scream at officers to enter the college
Movies uploaded to social media present Texas legislation enforcement personnel maintain again determined mother and father as they scream for officers to enter the college.
The footage captures a big group mother and father in a car parking zone, pleading with officers, as faculty buses and police automobiles could possibly be seen within the background. Many individuals are screaming and crying.
It is unclear if the video was taken throughout or after the capturing.
11:51 a.m.: police sergeant and US border brokers begin to arrive
Border Patrol brokers could not get into the classroom and have been compelled to ask a employees member to open the door with a key, an nameless legislation enforcement official accustomed to the occasions instructed the Related Press.
“At that time, we had a tactical legislation enforcement group arrive made up of a number of federal officers, native officers in addition to state troopers, that have been capable of make forcible entry into that classroom,” Olivarez mentioned.
“They breached it, engaged the lively shooter, and continued to maintain him pinned down in that location afterwards till a tactical group could possibly be put collectively,” McCraw mentioned, noting the tactical group included border patrol brokers, native law enforcement officials, and sheriffs.
Initially, McCraw mentioned the gunman was shot and killed round 40 minutes after his encounter with the college useful resource officer.
However then McCraw supplied a drastically totally different model of occasions, strung collectively by 911 calls made by college students locked inside lecture rooms in the course of the capturing as officers remained in a hallway.
In a matter of days, the Texas authorities modified their timeline of occasions no less than 13 occasions.
12:03 p.m.: Officers assemble within the hallways and college students start to name 911
The 911 calls positioned by college students counsel the gunfire lasted lengthy after authorities mentioned they arrived on the faculty.
At 12:03 p.m., a lady known as 911 and recognized herself via whispers, the report says. The decision lasted for precisely one minute and 23 seconds, in line with the report.
The Texas Home committee report mentioned the committee “obtained no proof that any officer who did find out about cellphone calls coming from inside Rooms 111 and 112 acted on it to advocate shifting to an lively shooter-style response or in any other case performing extra urgently to breach the lecture rooms.”
The woman was recognized as Amerie Jo Garza by her grandmother, The Each day Beast reported. Garza’s grandmother instructed the Beast she had simply obtained her award for the college’s honor roll. She didn’t survive.
The Uvalde police chief mentioned in an announcement that officers responded to the capturing “inside minutes,” however didn’t deal with if these officers truly went inside the college constructing.
12:10 p.m.: one other 911 name
The identical pupil known as 911 once more, and instructed the operator that a number of college students have been lifeless, the report says.
12:11 p.m.: Chief Arredondo requests a grasp key
Arredondo requests a grasp key, which grew to become his “major focus of his consideration for the subsequent 40 minutes,” in line with the Texas Home committee report.
12:13 p.m.: one other 911 name
The coed known as 911 a 3rd time.
12:15 p.m.: Border Patrol Tactical Unit arrives
Officers waited within the hallway till a Border Patrol Tactical Unit arrived at 12:15 p.m.
12:16 p.m.: Pupil makes one other 911 name and says 8-9 college students are nonetheless alive
The coed known as 911 and defined for a 3rd time that a number of of her classmates and one among her lecturers have been lifeless. She mentioned her different instructor was wounded and hiding in room 112, the report says.
12:19 p.m.: one other 911 name
A distinct pupil in classroom 111 known as 911, and hung up after a classmate suggested her to maintain quiet.
12:21 p.m.: photographs heard on 911 name
Throughout that decision to 911, McCraw mentioned three photographs could possibly be heard over the cellphone. McCraw mentioned it is believed he was firing on the door. At that time, officers ready within the hallway moved nearer, however needed to ask a janitor for keys into the classroom, McCraw mentioned.
A fourth-grade boy who survived the capturing instructed KENS 5 in regards to the harrowing moments he and his classmates first realized they have been underneath assault. After firing a shot at an adjoining door, the shooter walked into the younger boy’s classroom, he mentioned.
“He got here in and he crouched a bit of bit and he mentioned, he mentioned ‘It is time to die,'” the fourth-grader instructed the outlet.
12:36 p.m.: one other 911 name
The primary pupil who known as 911 known as again and instructed the operator that the gunman shot on the door.
12:45 p.m.: Border Patrol Tactical Unit goes in
A Border Patrol Tactical Unit disregards orders to not interact with the gunman half-hour after their arrival on the scene, NBC Information reported.
12:50 p.m.: Border Patrol Tactical Unit kills the gunman
“They breached t
he classroom door. They went in, engaged (the shooter), and killed him on the scene,” McCraw mentioned.
Photographs have been heard over the scholar’s 911 name, in addition to the sounds of officers transferring kids out of the classroom.
That was 77 minutes after the gunman entered the college, and 75 minutes after police arrived on the scene.
This story has been up to date with new data.
