UVALDE, Texas — The Director of Texas Department of Public Safety said it was the "wrong decision" for officers not to go into the classroom where the suspect was for 35 minutes after a tactical unit arrived. Children were inside classrooms, still making 911 calls, Steven McCraw said in a press conference Friday.
On 40 minute delay in police engaging the suspect inside Robb Elementary School, officials say, "a decision was made that this was a barricaded subject...there was time to retrieve the keys."
— ABC News (@ABC) May 27, 2022
"From the benefit of hindsight...it was the wrong decision." https://t.co/q812K5OQTv pic.twitter.com/59SMt32ElZ
The incident commander believed he was dealing with a barricaded subject inside the school and the children were not at risk, McCraw said.
Police were in the building soon after the shooter entered, and a tactical team from Customs and Border Protection was on scene at 12:15 p.m., but it did not breach the classroom until 12:50 p.m.
"Of course it wasn't the right decision," McCraw said. "It was the wrong decision."
In regards to parents pleading with police to enter the building, U.S. Marshals said they never placed anyone in handcuffs, but they say they “maintained order and peace in the midst of the grief-stricken community that was gathering around the school," in a statement posted on Twitter.
Marshals arrived on scene from Del Rio, Texas, at 12:10 p.m., and the first deputy U.S. Marshal went into the school to assist BORTAC, the elite tactical CBP team that ultimately shot the alleged shooter, the statement said.
They came from 70 miles away and got the first call around 11:30 a.m., according to the statement.
“These Deputy US Marshals also rendered emergency trauma first aid for multiple victims,” the statement said.
"Additional Deputy U.S. Marshals were asked to expand and secure the official law enforcement perimeter around the school,” the statement said. “Our hearts are heavy with sorrow and sadness at this horrific crime. We send our condolences to all the victims and families affected by this tragedy."
Angeli Rose Gomez, a mother waiting outside for her children, told the Wall Street Journal she was one of numerous parents urging police and law enforcement officers to go into the school sooner, first politely and then more urgently. She said U.S. Marshals put her in handcuffs, and told her she was being arrested for intervening in an active investigation.
Angel Garza, the stepfather of one of the children killed in the shooting, ran to try to reach and help his child, and was restrained and handcuffed by a local police officer, Desirae Garza, the girl's aunt, recounted to the New York Times.
