Uvalde shooting timeline shows gunman was inside school for nearly 80 minutes

Family members place a picture at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Photo: Getty Images

Local and state law enforcement officials in Texas have faced ferocious criticism for why it took so long for officers to confront and stop the Uvalde shooter inside a fourth grade classroom.

The big picture: The shooter was inside the school for around 80 minutes before law enforcement stopped his attack, which killed 19 kids and two teachers. Police and authorities have offered conflicting and changing information on the response.

Here is the latest timeline, provided by Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, on June 21.

• 11:28 a.m.: The shooter crashes a pickup truck into a ditch behind the school. He is carrying a semi-automatic rifle. He opens fire on two people outside a nearby business who escaped uninjured.
• 11:29 a.m.: First 911 call about a crash and shots fired outside the school is made.
• 11:33 a.m.: Shooter enters the school through an unlocked door at the west entrance that had previously been propped open, enters two connected fourth-grade classrooms — with two entrances that lock from the inside — and begins firing.
• 11:35 a.m.: At least three Uvalde Police Officers enter the same door as the shooter and go directly to one of the doors to one of the classrooms. Two of those officers are injured by gunshots from the shooter. Those three officers were followed by three additional Uvalde police officers and a county deputy sheriff.
• 11:36 a.m.: Two officers from the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, including Pete Arredondo, chief of the Uvalde school district police department, enter the school through the south door, along with two more Uvalde police officers.
• 11:41 a.m.: A Uvalde police officer is asked by a dispatcher whether the classroom door is locked. "I'm not sure but we have a hooligan to break it," he replies, referring to a forcible-entry tool.
• 11:52 a.m.: Law enforcement's first ballistic shield is brought in through the west door.
• 12:03 p.m.: At least 19 officers have gathered in a hallway outside the classrooms.
• 12:03 p.m.: The first 911 call is made from inside one of the classrooms by a person identified by McCraw as a female "student/child."
• 12:03 p.m.: A second ballistic shield enters the school, followed a minute later by a third.
• 12:10 p.m.: The person makes another call and advised the operator that multiple people were dead.
• 12:11 p.m.: Chief Arredondo asks for a master key for the rooms.
• 12:13 p.m. and 12:16 p.m.: The student makes two more calls and says there are eight to nine student alive inside the classroom she was in.
• 12:19 p.m.: Another 911 call is made from a second unidentified person, "who hung up when another student told her to hang up," McCraw said.
• 12:20 p.m.: A fourth ballistic shield is brought into the school.
• 12:35 p.m.: Hooligan breaching tool is brought into the school but not used.

• 12:43 p.m. and 12:47 p.m.: The initial caller makes two more calls and asks the operator to "please send the police now," according to McCraw.
• 12:50 p.m.: Law enforcement agents enter the classroom and kill the suspect/

McCraw said the shooter fired "at least 100 shots" throughout the attack.

• 17 people were also injured during the shooting.

What they're saying:Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called on FBI director Christopher Wray to investigate and put together a timeline of the events in Uvalde after state authorities "provided the public with conflicting accounts that are at odds with those provided by witnesses."

• "There could have been further loss of life if those initial officers weren't on scene to break those windows and rescue any other children and teachers inside that classroom," Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said on CNN.
• "Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen?" President Biden said following the shooting. "Where in god's name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with, to stand up to, the lobbyists? It's time to turn this pain into action."

The bottom line: After two days of providing often conflicting information, investigators said that a school district resource officer was not inside the school when Ramos arrived, and, contrary to their previous reports, the officer had not confronted Ramos outside the building.

Go deeper:

• More musicians cancel NRA convention performances after Texas shooting
• Police change their story on how Uvalde shooter entered school
• Remembering the victims of the Texas school shooting

Editor's note: This story has been updated on June 21 with additional information from Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety.

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