9-year-old Daniel, along with his mother Briana Ruiz, told CNN that the shooter fired several shots in his classroom at Rob Elementary School after he could not enter. The door was locked by his teacher and the bullets fired struck the teacher as well as a classmate.
Daniel began “hiding under a table by the wall” and said he could see the shooter through the door window.
“I could still see his face,” he said. I could see him staring at the people in front of me.
Later, Daniel escaped from a broken window to escape by cutting his hand on a glass, he said, and both wounded in his class would survive. However, his cousin Eli Garcia was in another classroom and was one of 19 children and two teachers killed in the shooting. The Texas Public Safety Department set a schedule for Tuesday’s shooting, showing that the shooter was in a classroom with students for more than an hour before being shot and killed by a Border Patrol Tactical Response Team. However, questions remain as to whether law enforcement response was timely enough to prevent further casualties. At the request of the mayor of Uwalde, the US Department of Justice has announced that it will investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
“The purpose of the review is to provide an independent report on the actions and responses of law enforcement authorities on that day, as well as to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare and respond to active shooters.” said in a statement to the DOJ on Sunday. .
Alfred Garcia, whose daughter was killed in the shooting, told CNN he was “unbelieving” how long it was during the shooting before it ended, and shared his disappointment with the authorities’ response.
“You don’t need a genius to understand that it just took too much time to get there and, do you know if they had reached earlier and someone would have taken immediate action, today we may have more than these children here, including my daughter, “he said.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Uwalde on Sunday to pay their respects by attending a liturgy and laying flowers at the memorial. The two also met privately with members of the victims’ families, as well as with first aid teams.
Funeral services for the victims are due to begin on Monday, and funeral homes in Uwalde have pledged to cover the family’s expenses.
The response of the law enforcement authorities is questionable
The actions taken by first aid workers – or lack thereof – during the shooting have been the focus of those who say more should have been done earlier.
Texas law enforcement officials have been trained to intervene quickly, according to CNN’s Guidelines for Active Shooters at the U.S. Law Enforcement Training Commission for 2020, which states that “the first priority for an employee is to enter and to face the attacker. “
“As the first to react, we must recognize that the innocent life must be protected,” it said. “The one who reacts first, who does not want to put the lives of the innocent above his own safety, should consider another area of his career.
Seven police officers arrived on the scene within two minutes after the shooter fired into the classroom. Three officers approached the locked classroom where the shooter was, and two police officers received bullet wounds fired behind the door, the MRF reported. The police then settled in the corridor.
Border patrol agents belonging to a specialized unit arrived at the scene around 12:15 pm – approximately 45 minutes after the attacker started firing. The police officer in charge has already ruled that the site is barricaded in the room, according to a source familiar with the situation.
After that, the team did not break the classroom for at least another 30 minutes, according to the schedule provided by DPS. As the Border Patrol often acts as an aid, they will report to the command agency, according to the source.
A call to 911 at 12:16 a.m., according to the MRF, by a girl in one of the classrooms where students were shot, told the operator that eight or nine students were still alive.
Asked on Friday why officials had not moved in earlier, Texas Public Safety Director Stephen McCrow said he said “the site was considered immobile and barricaded at the time”, adding that he believed there was no risk to other children ‘.
“Looking back, from where I’m sitting right now – there were obviously kids in the room, they’re obviously at risk,” McCrow said. “There may be children who are injured, who may have been shot but injured, and it is important for life-saving purposes to arrive immediately and provide assistance.
The community is coming together
After the shooting, there was support for people in the community.
Carlos Hernandez, whose restaurant is a mile from Robb Elementary, wrote on Facebook hours after the shooting: “There is no way I can open my kitchen with a broken heart and have fun doing it.”
On Thursday, his 33rd birthday, Hernandez decided to cook for the community by preparing favorite dishes, including wings, poppy seeds and cheese, and fried fish tacos.
Within two hours, Hernandez distributed more than 60 family plates to feed grieving families and neighbors who are still learning how to deal with the tragedy of their close-knit community.
“It’s a really difficult situation, I’m just trying to show the kids that they have us as a backbone and a support system,” Hernandez told CNN. “We always provide, whether there is an accident or not.”
Elsewhere in Uwalde, the El Progreso Memorial Library has become a place of healing.
On Wednesday, just a day after the shooting, children’s librarian Martha Careon sat in front of rows of young people reading, singing and giggling with the children, taking them to a safe place away from the school, where many witnessed in horror.
“We want our building to be a safe space, a refuge that is a quiet, peaceful and cool refuge,” Mendel Morgan, director of the El Progreso Memorial Library, told CNN.
In addition to psychologists, who will be available every weekday to talk to children and adults, there will be massage practitioners, volunteers for arts and crafts, pianists to play soothing music, and even magicians to perform professional magic. the show.
“This is a strong community where we have real care and concern for each other,” Morgan said. “Many, if not most here, hold fast to their faith, believing in God that good is stronger than evil, and light is stronger than darkness.
But Elasar, Ed Lavandera, Amanda Watts, Hannah Sarison, Virginia Langmaid, Paula Reed, Priscilla Alvarez, Christina Maxuris, Holly Ian and Aya Elamrusi contributed to this report.
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