Addressing the mass-shooting that claimed 21 lives in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday, Department of Public Safety Director Steven McGraw acknowledged Friday that responding officers waited too long to breach the classroom where the killing took place.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference held at the scene of the shooting, McGraw said that the on-scene incident commander, Chief of Police Daniel Rodriguez, made the decision to fall back and wait for U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Teams to breach the classroom.
McGraw said the decision to delay entering the classroom was mistaken. According to Texas active shooter protocols, officers are required to make an immediate breach to neutralize the suspect when there is a risk to life.
"It was a wrong decision. Period," he said.
That decision was made after an initial exchange of gunfire with the gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, which led two police officers and one U.S. Border Patrol agent to be shot.
McGraw said that the shooting began at around 11:33 a.m. on Tuesday, when the suspect entered the school. At 11:35 a.m., three officers arrived. By 12:00 p.m., as many as 19 officers were present in the school. However, Chief Rodriguez believed that situation had "transitioned" from an "active shooter to a barricaded subject" – i.e., that there was no longer a risk to students in the two classrooms, who were presumed dead.
Rodriguez, as McGraw explained, believed that he "needed more equipment to conduct a breach." During this time, the shooter was present in the classroom with children, where it is believed that several were killed.
Border Patrol Tactical Teams arrived at the school at 12:15 but were only able to breach the classroom doors where the shooter was located at 12:50 due to the door being locked. Keys from the school's janitor were sought to open the door during that time. Upon entry at 12:50, tactical officers killed the shooter.
The tactical team was initially prevented from entering the school by local police officers, the New York Times reported.
During that period when officers were waiting, McGraw explained that numerous 911 calls were being made to the Uvalde Police Department, from teachers and children in the two classrooms in hiding. One student, who called in at 12:26, said that she could "hear police in the next room," and asked for them to be sent in immediately. They entered the room 24 minutes later.
McGraw also said that the school's resource officer was not on campus at the time, for which he gave no reason. He added that the investigation was ongoing.
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