(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force are no longer cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the massacre at Robb Elementary School and the state’s review of the law enforcement response, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
A spokesman for Texas DPS, which is running the state’s investigations, declined to comment.
The Uvalde police chief and a spokesperson for the Uvalde Independent School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News.
According to sources, the decision to stop cooperating occurred soon after the director of DPS, Col. Steven McCraw, held a news conference Friday during which he said the delayed police entry into the classroom was “the wrong decision” and contrary to protocol.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LARGO, Fla.) — A Florida man was killed in a suspected alligator attack, authorities said.
The Largo Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating the death of a man at Taylor Lake in Largo, a city in the Tampa Bay area.
“At this time, detectives believe the victim was looking for Frisbees in the water and a gator was involved,” the department said in a statement.
The man was found by a visitor at Taylor Park, home to a 53-acre freshwater lake, and police were contacted around 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to Largo Police Department spokesperson Megan Santo.
The man’s identity has not been released pending next-of-kin notification. He was 47-years-old, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which also responded to the scene.
The agency was still working to capture the alligator Tuesday afternoon, Santo said.
“A contracted nuisance alligator trapper is working to remove a nearby alligator and efforts will be made to determine if it was involved in this situation,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement.
Police urged residents and visitors to avoid going near or swimming in the lake at any time. There are no swimming signs posted at the lake, according to police.
Fatal alligator bites are rare. From 1948 to 2021, Florida reported 442 unprovoked bite incidents from alligators, 26 of which resulted in fatalities, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In the last 10 years, the state has averaged eight unprovoked bites a year that require medical treatment, the agency said.
The likelihood of someone being seriously injured during an unprovoked alligator incident in Florida is roughly one in 3.1 million, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The last fatal alligator attack in Florida was in 2019, according to the agency.
A man was bitten in the face by an alligator at Taylor Park in 2020 while looking for frisbees in the lake, Tampa ABC affiliate Tampa WFTS reported at the time. The injury was non-life-threatening.
(UVALDE) — The first funerals for victims killed in the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history are expected to occur in Uvalde, Texas, one week after the massacre.
Amerie Jo Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10 years old, will be laid to rest Tuesday following funeral services in the afternoon. Visitations for the students began on Monday.
The last photo ever taken of Garza, at this year’s award’s day, was featured inside the Hillcrest Funeral Home where her visitation took place, one mourner told ABC Houston station KTRK. Maite Rodriguez was “charismatic” and “goal-driven,” her mother told The Associated Press.
“I can’t begin to imagine what these families are going through,” the woman said as she wiped away tears. “And that’s the hardest part. You know, if I could take a little bit of their pain away, I think I would.”
Visitations at the same funeral home also began on Tuesday for Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo and Jose Manuel Flores Jr., both 10 years old.
Twenty-one people, including 19 third and fourth graders and two teachers, were murdered on May 24 when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos allegedly opened fire at Robb Elementary School with an AR-15 style rifle he purchased days before.
Another 17 people, including three law enforcement officers, were injured in the attack.
Memorial services for victims are expected to take place in the small town through June 16.
The funeral for cousins Jailah Nicole Silguero, 11, and Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10, will take place Friday at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The cousins were “full of life” and “always had a smile on their face,” their family said in a statement to ABC News.
Jacklyn Cazares, 10, will be remembered at Sacred Heart on Friday. She “had the biggest heart,” her mother, Jacinto Cazares, told ABC News.
Annabell Rodriguez, 10, Cazares’ cousin who was in the same fourth-grade class, was also killed in the shooting. Her funeral will take place on June 8 at the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary.
Services for Maranda Gail Mathis, 11, and Eliahana Cruz Torres are scheduled for Thursday at the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary. Ellie Garcia will be laid to rest on Monday after her funeral takes place at Sacred Heart.
Makenna Elrod’s funeral will take place at First Baptist Church on Saturday. The 10-year-old’s “smile would light up a room,” her aunt, Allison McCullough, confirmed to ABC News.
The funeral for Rojelio Torres, 10, will take place at Rushing Knowles on Saturday. Rojelio Torres’ mother, Evadulia Orta, described her son to ABC News as a “”very smart and loving child.”
Alithia Ramirez will be buried Sunday after her funeral takes place at First Baptist Church. Her grandmother, Rosa Maria Ramirez, described her to ABC News as a “very talented little girl” who loved to draw.
Xavier Lopez, 10, will be buried at the Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery after his funeral on June 7. He was always the “life of the party,” his grandmother, Amelia Sandoval, told ABC News.
The funeral for fourth grade teacher Eva Mireles will take place on June 10 at Sacred Heart. Miresles’ cousin, Amber Ybarra, described her as a “hero” and an “amazing mom.”
Alexandria Rubio will be remembered on June 11 at First Baptist Church. The straight A student received a good citizen award from her school on the day she was killed, her family said.
The funeral for Tess Mata, 10, will take place on June 13 at Sacred Heart. Her mother, Veronica Mata, told ABC News she never believed a school shooting could happen in their small town.
The memorial services for Irma Garcia, one of the teachers killed in the shooting, her husband, Jose Garcia and student Uziyah Garcia have not yet been announced. Uziyah, who is not related to Irma and Jose Garcia, was described by his grandfather as “the sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known.”
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Break out the sunscreen, hats and water bottles: record high temperatures are possible in the Northeast Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures are forecast to skyrocket to 94 degrees in New York City, 97 degrees in Philadelphia, 95 degrees in Washington, D.C., and 90 degrees in Pittsburgh.
The record high temperatures currently stand at 96 degrees for New York City, 97 for Philadelphia and 99 for D.C.
In Baltimore, students at public schools without air conditioning will be released at noon on Tuesday, according to the school district.
Philadelphia students will also be dismissed early due to the heat, ABC Philadelphia station WPVI reported.
This dangerous heat won’t last long for New York City, with temperatures falling to around 70 degrees on Wednesday. But the Philadelphia and D.C. areas will still be near 90 degrees Wednesday.
Click here to learn tips to stay safe in the heat.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Video obtained by ABC News, taken outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, as last week’s massacre was unfolding inside, appears to capture a 911 dispatcher alerting officers on scene that they were receiving calls from children who were alive inside the classroom that the gunman had entered — as law enforcement continued to wait nearly an hour and a half to enter the room.
“Child is advising he is in the room, full of victims,” the dispatcher can be heard saying in the video. “Full of victims at this moment.”
“Is anybody inside of the building at this…?” the dispatcher asked.
Minutes later, the dispatcher says again: “Eight to nine children.”
The video, obtained by ABC News, also shows police rescuing children from inside the school by breaking through a window and pulling them out, and also leading them out the back door to safety.
Early on, an officer can be heard warning bystanders to stay back because there is a man with a rifle.
Minutes later, what appear to be gunshots are heard ringing out.
The video, which appears to show some of what took place outside the school, raises new questions about law enforcement’s response to one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The gunman was left inside the classroom for 77 minutes as 19 officers waited in the hallway — and many more waited outside the building — after the incident commander wrongly believed the situation had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, law enforcement has said.
Federal officers ultimately decided to enter the building and killed the gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
At a news conference Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McGraw said children inside the classroom had called 911 a number of times begging for them to “please send police now.” It appeared that information may not have been relayed to officers on the ground, he said.
“That question will be answered,” McGraw said when asked directly if the incident commander on the ground received the 911 information. “I’m not going to share the information we have right now. Because I don’t have — I don’t have the detailed interview right now.”
But the video obtained by ABC News, taken just outside the premises, appears to show that 911 dispatchers were relaying the information — including information that the room was “full of victims.” It is not clear who on scene, if anyone, heard the calls coming in from the dispatchers.
“Advise we do have a child on the line,” an apparent dispatcher can be heard saying in the video.
The dispatcher’s information heard on the video appears to match the readout of the 911 calls provided last week by law enforcement officials. McGraw said a child had called 911 saying she was in room 112 and had “advised there were multiple dead.”
Later, McGraw said, “she called back and said there’s eight to nine students alive.”
More than one of the children who dialed 911 from inside the classroom survived, McGraw said on Friday.
The Department of Justice on Sunday announced it would be conducting a “fair, transparent, and independent” review of the law enforcement response to the shooting. The findings of the review, the department said, would be published in a report and made available to the public.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” DOJ said in its release.
(RICHMOND, Va.) — Two females are missing after a group of 12 kayakers became stranded and then went over Bosher’s Dam in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday afternoon.
Ten victims were rescued, including nine rescued by authorities and one self-rescue, after the incident on the James River, according to Richmond Fire Department Assistant Chief Jeffrey Segal.
The incident took place around 3 p.m. and rescue boats entered the water at 3:22 p.m., Segal said. The dam has a 12-foot drop.
The rescue operation to search for the missing females ceased Monday night because it was getting dark and would restart Tuesday at 7 a.m., Segal said.
It’s unclear if all the victims knew each other, according to the assistant chief, and if they were all physically inside the kayaks at the time of the emergency.
It’s also unknown where the two missing females went missing, Segal said. Their last known location was where most of the victims were rescued.
The operation is still classified as a rescue and not a recovery, Segal added.
(UVALDE, Texas) — A small town in rural Texas is reeling after a gunman opened fire at an elementary school on Tuesday, killing 19 children.
Two teachers were also among those killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, according to authorities.
Prior to opening fire at the school, the suspect also allegedly shot his grandmother, officials said.
The alleged gunman — identified by authorities as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a student at Uvalde High School — is dead.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
May 30, 12:26 pm
Two injured adults upgraded to good condition
The two injured adults who remain hospitalized at the Brooke Army Medical Center have been upgraded to good condition, the hospital said Monday.
Three other survivors remain at University Hospital: a 10-year-old girl in serious condition, a 9-year-old girl in good condition and the suspect’s grandmother who is in fair condition, according to the hospital.
Seventeen people overall were injured in Tuesday’s mass shooting.
May 30, 11:46 am
Biden says he hasn’t engaged with Republicans on gun reform
As President Joe Biden arrived at the White House Monday, he said he met with victims and their families Sunday for three hours and 40 minutes, adding that their “pain is palpable” and “unnecessary.”
The back-to-back mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, prompted a group of bipartisan senators to engage in some initial conversations about gun legislation. Biden said he hasn’t spoken to Republicans about gun reform. Asked by a reporter if he thinks anything will now be different for Republicans, Biden said he did not know, but that he believes they’ll “take a hard look.”
Noting that he has asked for Congress to act on guns, a reporter asked Biden if he has a particular responsibility now to get this done. Biden said he’d continue to take any executive action he can, but admitted that without Congress, he “can’t outlaw a weapon” or change background checks.
May 30, 11:35 am
State senator: ‘Every day is one day closer to students dying’
Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez is counting down the days until the start of the next school year, which he said is 77 days.
Without change, “every day is one day closer to students dying,” Gutierrez, a Democrat, told ABC News.
He is among the lawmakers calling on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to convene a special session to address gun violence.
The senator also mentioned potential plans to tear down Robb Elementary and build a new campus.
“I want what families want. Every person has told me they don’t want to go back. Little kids I’ve met have told me they don’t want to go in that school,” he said.
May 29, 3:52 pm
Bidens attend Mass in Uvalde
As President Joe Biden left Mass at a Catholic Church in Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, he walked over to a crowed of people outside chanting, “Do something.”
Biden looked at the crowd and mouthed the words, “We will.”
Biden and first lady Jill Biden attended Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. As they entered the sanctuary, Jill Biden reached out and lightly touched the hands of several people seated along the aisle as she and the president made their way to their seat in the first-row pew.
About 600 people attended the service.
The president and first lady were greeted at the church by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, according to the White House.
“In the midst of collapse and devastation, we have come once more to this our house. To pray. And to be together,” one of the service leaders said as the Mass got underway.
Garcia-Siller invited children to come to the front of the church and sit.
“They passed away. But you are alive,” the archbishop told the children, referring to the 19 students and two teachers killed in the attack at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.
Garcia-Siller told the children that he believes they will help the community heal. He noted how Jesus died and “rose from the dead,” and then went to heaven.
“He prepared a place for the 19 little ones we lost,” the archbishop said.
The archbishop said he has experienced the goodness of people in the wake of the horrific tragedy. He reflected on Jesus’ message of peace, saying, Jesus felt fear and pain, but did not become bitter.
Garcia-Siller spoke of the joy of heaven.
“Our children in Uvalde who left us already join in this joy,” he said. “Heaven is open for all.”
May 29, 3:42 pm
Suspected shooter’s grandmother in fair condition
The Uvalde school shooting suspect’s grandmother, who was the first person shot in Tuesday’s attack, has been upgraded to fair condition, University Health officials tweeted Sunday.
The 66-year-old woman, who police said was allegedly shot in the head by her grandson, is being treated at University Hospital in San Antonio, officials said.
Two young victims who survived the shooting at Robb Elementary School remained in University Hospital on Sunday. A 10-year-old girl was listed in serious condition at the hospital, while a 9-year-old girl was listed in good condition, hospital officials said.
May 29, 1:37 pm
Chaos, confusion and the decision to enter school: Sources
When federal agents from Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations arrived at Robb Elementary School Tuesday, they immediately encountered a scene of confusion and chaos, according to multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the attack.
Some arrived with heavy equipment, others with whatever they could carry as they ran to the scene on foot.
Initially, these agents, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News, tried to discern who was doing what, where was shooter who was engaging law enforcement and how were children were being evacuated.
Once the tactical team assembled with enough gear, they became aware of an order not to enter the classroom because they were told the suspect had barricaded himself, the sources told ABC News.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has said the incident commander wrongly believed the shooting had stopped.
Eventually, the special agent-in-charge of Homeland Security Investigations gave the instruction to all federal agents under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security that they were free to use their best judgment and to do what they felt was best, the sources said.
The federal agents were unsure whether any children could be saved at that point, but they were interested in evacuating the wounded. Some agents brought children in other classrooms out through windows.
The tactical team went in at 12:50 p.m. CDT and fatally shot the suspect, 77 minutes after the shooting started, officials said.
The suspect was dead at the scene, the sources said. He was found with more than a dozen bullet wounds.
May 29, 1:10 pm
Justice Department to investigate police response to Uvalde shooting
The Justice Department will conduct a critical incident review to examine the law enforcement response to last week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, a spokesperson announced on Sunday.
The review is being conducted at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and the DOJ will publish a report on its findings at the conclusion.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events. The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent. The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.”
May 29, 1:53 pm
President, first lady place bouquet of roses at Robb Elementary School memorial
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid their respects at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School on Sunday, placing a bouquet of white roses and viewing and touching photos of the 19 children and two teachers killed in Tuesday’s attack at the school.
The Bidens’ motorcade arrived to applause from community residents lining the street nearby.
The president and first lady met Robb Elementary School principal Mandy Gutierrez. The president hugged Gutierrez and appeared to officer words of comfort.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also joined the Bidens at the memorial.
May 29, 12:08 pm
Biden, first lady arrive in Uvalde
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have arrived in Uvalde, Texas, Sunday morning and plan to meet with loved ones of 19 students and two teachers killed in Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The Bidens arrived at Uvalde’s Garner Field on Marine One just before noon after flying on Air Force One at Kelly Field in San Antonio earlier Sunday.
The Bidens were met on the tarmac at Garner Field by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and other local dignitaries.
The White House said the [president}() and first lady intend “to grieve with the community that lost twenty-one lives in the horrific elementary school shooting.”
The Bidens are scheduled to visit a growing memorial outside Robb Elementary School and attend Mass at a local Catholic church before meeting with the family members of those killed in the attack and first responders.
May 29, 11:32 am
Senators hold bipartisan negotiations on federal gun legislation
Some Democrat and Republican senators are negotiating through the Memorial Day weekend in an attempt to find “common ground” on potential federal gun laws intended to prevent massacres like the one at a Uvalde, Texas, school, according to Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy.
“There are serious negotiations and we are going to continue to meet through early next week to try to find some common ground,” Murphy, a Democrat, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.
Murphy said negotiations with Republican senators have included discussions of “red flag” laws, expansion of the federal background check system, safe storage, mental health resources and increased security funding for schools.
“What we’re talking about is not insignificant,” Murphy said.
He said the goal is to come up with a package “that really in the end could have a significant downward pressure on gun violence in this country and break the logjam.”
“Maybe that’s the most important thing we could do is just show that progress is possible and that the sky doesn’t fall for Republicans if it supports some of these common sense measures,” Murphy said.
Murphy, who took up the cause of combatting gun violence a decade ago following the deadly 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, said he is hearing from more Republicans than ever agreeing on the need for new federal gun legislation, or to bolster laws on the books now.
Republican Rep Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Karl that “raising the age of gun purchase to 21 is a no brainer.”
“If you look at the Parkland shooting, you look at Buffalo, you look at this shooting, these are people under the age of 21,” Kinzinger said. “We know that the human brain develops and matures a lot between the age of 18 and 21. We just raised — without really so much as a blink — the age of purchasing cigarettes federally to 21.”
May 28, 3:05 pm
Shooter fired on at least 6 occasions after police arrived
Alleged school shooter Salvador Ramos was in the classroom for 77 minutes before officers entered and killed him. During that time, he discharged 315 rounds of ammunition, with hundreds of those rounds fired within the first four minutes of his arrival, authorities said.
After the initial barrage, the police commander on the scene mistakenly believed the shooter was barricaded and it was no longer an active shooter incident, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told reporters in an update Friday. But as officers gathered outside the classroom, the gunman kept shooting on at least six occasions, the new details show.
At 11:35 a.m., as the first three officers entered the building and approached classrooms 111 and 112, the suspect fired into the hallway through a closed door, where two officers sustained “grazing wounds,” McCraw said.
He fired an additional 16 rounds two minutes later — at 11:37 a.m. — and again at 11:38 a.m., 11:40 a.m. and 11:44 a.m., according to McCraw, who did not specify whether the additional discharges were directed at officers in the hallway or at those inside the classrooms.
At 12:21 p.m., with as many as 19 officers then gathered outside the classroom, the suspect again fired at the closed door, forcing officers to “move down the hallway,” McCraw said.
Despite those additional spurts of gunfire – and a 911 call from inside one of the classrooms alerting a dispatcher that eight or nine people remained alive — officers did not enter the classroom and kill Ramos until 12:50 p.m., according to McCraw.
The police response to the shooting is now being investigated, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman
May 28, 1:14 pm
Texas active shooter training instructs ‘move in, confront attacker,’ manual shows
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District in Texas hosted active shooter training for its six-member police force two months prior to the massacre at Robb Elementary, based on the “Active Shooter Response for School-Based Law Enforcement” course from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which explicitly states: “First responders to the active shooter scene will usually be required to place themselves in harm’s way and display uncommon acts of courage to save the innocent.”
The course manual also includes this sobering instruction: “A first responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field.”
The training makes clear the “first priority is to move in and confront the attacker.”
It is “safer” and “preferable” to have a team of at least four officers move on a subject but, since “time is the number one enemy during active shooter response,” even a single officer is expected to act, according to the training document.
In Uvalde, 19 officers entered the school but remained in the hallway, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a press conference Friday.
Only when an attacker is isolated and “can do no more harm to students, staff, or visitors” is the officer not obligated to enter the room, which is what McCraw said the incident commander, Uvalde ISD Chief Pete Arredondo, believed.
“It was the wrong decision,” McCraw said.
-ABC News’ Mike Levine and Aaron Katersky
May 27, 5:23 pm
Texas governor: ‘I was misled’ on police response to shooting
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was “misled” about the response to the Uvalde school shooting.
“I am livid about what happened,” Abbott said during a press briefing Friday, hours after the Texas Department of Public Safety detailed missteps that led to a 35-minute wait to breach the classroom where the shooter was.
“As everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate, and I’m absolutely livid about that,” Abbott said Friday. “There are people who deserve answers the most, and those are the families whose lives have been destroyed. They need answers that are accurate, and it is inexcusable that they may suffer from any inaccurate information whatsoever.”
The governor said there will be investigations into the release of information on the shooting and the strategy employed in the response.
On Wednesday, Abbott said an officer had confronted the shooter at the entrance to the school building, which was not the case.
“But the reality is, as horrible as what happened, it could have been worse,” he also said at the time. “The reason it was not worse, is because law enforcement officials did what they do.”
May 27, 4:37 pm
Texas official says gunman had 1,657 rounds of ammunition
The gunman had purchased a total of 1,657 rounds of ammunition, 315 of which were inside the school, Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday.
McCraw said 142 of those rounds were spent cartridges and 173 were live rounds.
Officials found 922 rounds outside of the school, but on school property. Of those rounds, 22 were spent cartridges and 900 were live rounds. Another 422 live rounds were found at the crash site, McCraw said.
The suspect had a total of 60 30-round magazines, 58 of which were at the school. He had fired nearly 200 rounds, most of them inside the school, said McCraw.
May 27, 3:42 pm
5 of 17 injured in shooting remain hospitalized
Five of the 17 people injured in the elementary school shooting remain in the hospital on Friday, according to officials.
Two children and one adult are being treated at University Hospital in San Antonio, two of whom are in serious condition, and two adults are at Brooke Army Medical Center, both in fair condition.
A 10-year-old girl was discharged from University Health in San Antonio.
Eight children and three adults were treated and discharged from Udalve Medical Center earlier this week.
-ABC News’ Jennifer Watts
May 27, 3:13 pm
Texas DPS conducting review of law enforcement actions during shooting
As part of its ongoing investigation into Tuesday’s shooting, the Texas Department of Public Safety is conducting a review of law enforcement actions.
This comes after the visibly shaken Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, revealed a cascading series of police failures before and during one of the deadliest school shootings in the nation’s history.
The incident commander, the chief of Uvalde ISD Police, wrongly believed the incident had transitioned from an active shooter situation to a barricaded subject situation, where the suspect had stopped firing and barricaded himself in a classroom, no longer posing a threat to children, McCraw said.
“He thought there was time,” McCraw said.
McCraw said there may have been a belief by the incident commander that no one was alive anymore inside the classrooms. But, he detailed multiple 911 calls made from inside the classrooms, on which callers explicitly said several children were alive and trapped inside with the shooter. Callers at several points asked for police to be sent in.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
May 27, 1:53 pm
Several 911 calls were made from inside classroom as police waited outside
Those inside a classroom with the shooter made several calls to 911, but the tactical unit that arrived at 12:15 p.m. waited 35 minutes before breaching the classroom, Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a press conference Friday.
A 911 call was made at 12:03 p.m. from room 112 and lasted 23 seconds. McCraw did not identify the caller.
She called back at 12:10 p.m. and advised that there were multiple dead in the classroom, McCraw said.
The person then called again at 12:13 p.m. and again at 12:16 p.m., when she said there were eight to nine students who were still alive, McCraw said.
A call was made by someone else from room 111 at 12:19 p.m., the caller hung up when another student told her to hang up, McCraw said.
At 12:21 p.m., three shots were heard over a 911 call. At 12:36 p.m., another 911 call was made by the initial caller and it lasted for 21 seconds. The student caller was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. She told 911 that the gunman shot the door, McCraw said.
At approximately 12:43 p.m. and 12:47 p.m., she asked 911 to please send the police now, McCraw said.
The caller said she could hear police next door at 12:46 p.m. At 12:50 p.m., the Border Patrol tactical unit finally breached the door and shot the suspect.
May 27, 1:18 pm
Suspect reportedly involved in online chats about guns, school shootings in recent weeks
Authorities shed more light on some of the suspect’s digital footprint in the weeks and months before Tuesday’s mass shooting.
In September 2021, suspected gunman Salvador Ramos asked his sister to buy him a gun and she “flatly refused,” Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters during a briefing Friday. He did not note where this exchange took place.
On Feb. 28, in an Instagram group chat with four people, they discussed “Ramos being a school shooter,” McCraw said.
The next day, on March 1, in an Instagram chat with four people, Ramos discussed buying a gun, according to McCraw.
Two days later, on March 3, in another four-person chat, someone said, “Word on the street is you are buying a gun,” according to McCraw. Ramos reportedly replied, “Just bought something.”
On March 14, Ramos posted on Instagram, “Ten more days,” according to McCraw. Someone replied, “Are you going to shoot up a school or something?” to which Ramos replied, “No. Stop asking dumb questions. You’ll see,” according to McCraw.
Investigators are also looking into people the suspect may have communicated with in video game chat rooms who “may have known something,” McCraw said.
May 27, 12:36 pm
Officers did not breach classroom for 35 minutes while shooter was inside
Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, admitted it was the “wrong decision” for officers not to go into the classroom where the suspect was for 35 minutes. Children were inside the classroom with him, making 911 calls, McCraw said in a press conference Friday.
The incident commander believed he was dealing with was a barricaded subject inside the school and the children were not at risk, he said.
A tactical team from CBP was on scene at 12:15 p.m., but 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.”
May 27, 11:23 am
US Marshals say they never arrested or handcuffed anyone outside school
The 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.
U.S. 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.
May 27, 6:30 am
10-year-old survivor recalls gunman saying: ‘You’re all gonna die’
There was blood in the hallway and children were covered in it, one of the students who survived the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, told ABC News.
Salinas was a student in Irma Garcia’s fourth-grade class. They were scheduled to graduate Thursday, but the ceremony was canceled because Garcia, another teacher and 19 third- and fourth-grade students were killed in Tuesday’s massacre.
Salinas said his aunt dropped him off for school on Tuesday morning.
“It was a normal day until my teacher said we’re on severe lockdown,” he told ABC News, “and then there was shooting in the windows.”
Salinas said the gunman came into his classroom, closed the door and told them, “You’re all going to die,” before opening fire.
“He shot the teacher and then he shot the kids,” Salinas said, recalling the cries and yells of students around him.
-ABC News’ Samira Said
May 26, 9:57 pm
Accused shooter’s mother at one point worked at same establishment of gun purchase: Sources
Sources told ABC News the accused school shooter’s mother, Adriana Reyes, at one point worked at Oasis Outback, the same store where the gunman purchased two weapons just after his 18th birthday earlier this month.
The establishment is half gun retailer, half restaurant; Reyes’ employment was with the restaurant portion, sources say.
It is unclear if she had any role in her son’s purchase of the firearms. The owner of Oasis declined to comment to ABC News and added he would only speak with law enforcement at this time. Reyes has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Laura Romero and Victor Ordonez
May 26, 6:49 pm
Law enforcement examining if lockdown was audible to students, staff: Sources
The response by school officials and law enforcement is becoming a key focus in the ongoing investigation into the Uvalde school shooting, law enforcement sources told ABC News Thursday.
It is unclear whether any students and teachers heard an official call for a lockdown once the gunman entered the building, the sources said.
Additionally, investigators are looking into whether officers on site could have made other attempts to enter the school to end the gunman’s rampage faster, the sources said. Responding police were met with gunfire and called for tactical teams with proper equipment to enter the classroom and neutralize the gunman, according to the sources.
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Josh Margolin, Aaron Katersky and Luke Barr
May 26, 5:19 pm
10-year-old survivor recalls moments after hearing shots fired
A student who was in the classroom next door to the one the gunman entered recounted to ABC News what she did next.
Gemma Lopez, 10, said she heard five to six gunshots and commotion outside her classroom at Robb Elementary School before a bullet whizzed by her arm and into the wall. She recalled seeing a puff of smoke, which is when she knew they were all in danger.
She said she turned off the lights and then ducked under the tables — what she learned to do in the active shooter training she has undergone since kindergarten. There were no locks inside and they did not have a key in the classroom to lock the door from the inside, she said.
Authorities yelled at the gunman to put down his weapon, to which he reportedly shouted in response, “Leave me alone please,” in Spanish, Gemma recalled.
Gemma said her best friend, Amerie Jo Garza, was one of the 19 children killed in the massacre.
(UVALDE, Texas) — When gunfire rang out at Robb Elementary School Tuesday, 9-year-old Daniel Garza said his teacher, Elsa Avila, ran to the door to lock their classroom, which was near the rooms where 19 students and two teachers were killed.
Avila was shot through the glass and dropped to the floor, Daniel told ABC News, but she still told her students to stay quiet and said she was playing dead. A student in the class was also injured when the gunman shot through the door.
Daniel said he hid under a table next to a wall with some classmates. Daniel and his terrified peers stayed quiet, listening to the gunshots and the gunman banging on the neighboring door.
“I personally can’t thank my son’s teacher enough,” Daniel’s mother, Briana Ruiz, told ABC News. “I think what she did saved all of their lives.”
Though Daniel survived, he lost his beloved cousin, Ellie Garcia, who was in a neighboring classroom and among the 19 children slain in the massacre.
“I was worried a lot for her because I didn’t hear any screaming from the class,” he said.
Although her son is enduring mental trauma from the massacre, Ruiz said the 9-year-old insisted on speaking to journalists to take the focus off the gunman and shine it on the victims.
“That’s why I agreed to let him do this. If he feels like it’s going to help him, I’m OK with it, because I do want him to recover,” she said.
Since the shooting, Ruiz said her son hasn’t wanted to go into his bedroom and has stopped playing video games.
“When I ask him why he doesn’t want to play, he says, ‘I don’t want to hear gun shots.’ We’re not watching cable — any mention of shooting does trigger him,” she said. “That’s something they’re gonna have to live with forever and it’s going to be hard.”
Ruiz said the gunman was a former student of hers, when she was a teaching assistant.
As for Daniel’s feelings about the gunman: “I feel mad at him. I play football with a lot of those guys and they didn’t make it out.”
ABC News’ Marcus Moore contributed to this report.
(PITTSBURGH) — A 1-year-old boy was shot and killed during a drive-by shooting in downtown Pittsburgh on Sunday, police say.
Authorities received 911 calls for a child shot on the 100 block of Fourth Avenue around 2:44 p.m. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
ABC News Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE reported that the infant was with a parent at the time of the shooting, according to police.
An investigation is ongoing and no other information was released at this time.
(TAFT, Okla.) — One person was killed and another seven were injured after a shooting broke out during a Memorial Day festival in Oklahoma.
About 1,500 people were in attendance at the festival at the Old City Square in Taft, Oklahoma, about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, when the shooting took place early Sunday, according to a statement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Witnesses told investigators the gunfire erupted after an argument took place just after midnight, authorities said. One juvenile, a 9-year-old, was among the injured.
The deceased is a 39-year-old Black female, authorities said. The other seven injured range in age from 9 to 56 and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.
The suspect, 26-year-old Skyler Buckner, turned himself in at the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday,
The Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office was in attendance at the event and immediately rendered aid to the victims, authorities said.
Officials are asking anyone who may have a tip to contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Additional information on the shooting was not immediately available.
ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr and Timmy Truong contributed to this report.
