As a shattered community tries to make sense of the massacre that killed 19 young children and two teachers, authorities proposed a change in the schedule of what happened at the school in Uwalde, Texas.
On Friday, Texas Public Safety Director Stephen McCrow outlined the most detailed breakdown the public has received so far about the horror that erupted at Rob Elementary School on May 24 – and tried to offer some answers on how the authorities reacted.
Among the details we know now are: that a school official was driving right past the shooter – 18-year-old Salvador Ramos – while Ramos was shooting at the school; that 19 police officers were inside the school more than 45 minutes before the suspect was killed; that the head of the school district police had decided not to break into the classroom where the shooter was; and that a young girl from the class called 911 several times, asking the police while the authorities were just outside.
CNN has compiled a history of events with information provided by McCraw, social media posts and other reports that offer insights into what happened before the shooting and a minute-by-minute breakdown of the attack – and how authorities responded.
IN THE MONTHS AGO
In September 2021, the shooter asked his sister to help him buy a gun, and she “flatly refused,” McCrow said.
The shooter was in a group chat on Instagram and there was a discussion on February 28 that the suspect was a “school shooter”, McCrow said.
On March 1, the shooter spoke on Instagram with several others in which he discussed the purchase of a gun, McCrow said. Two days later, there was another group chat in which someone said that “on the street” it was said that the suspect was buying a gun. The shooter replied, “I just bought something rn.”
On March 14, the shooter wrote in an Instagram post “Another 10 days”. Another user replied, “Are you going to shoot at school or something?” The shooter replied, “Don’t stop asking stupid questions and you’ll see,” McCrow said.
On May 17 and 20, the shooter legally purchased two AR-platform rifles from a local federal firearms licensee, said Texas Sen. John Whitmeyer, who received a briefing from law enforcement.
The shooter also bought 375 rounds on May 18, Whitmeyer said, citing law enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Roland Gutierrez said the purchases were made for the suspect’s 18th birthday.
HE SHOT HIS GRANDMOTHER AND GOT OUT OF THE HOUSE
Before going to school and slaughtering, the shooter sent a series of chilling text messages to a girl he met online, according to screenshots viewed by CNN, and an interview with the girl.
The teenager, who lives in Germany, said she started talking to the shooter on a social media app earlier this month. The shooter told her he received a package of ammunition on Monday, she said.
Ramos called her on Tuesday morning and told her he loved her, she said.
He complained that his grandmother had spoken to AT&T on the phone about “my phone.”
“It’s annoying,” he wrote.
Six minutes later, at 11:21 a.m., he sent a message: “I just shot my grandmother in the head.”
Seconds later, he said, “I have to shoot at (n) primary school rn (right now).”
SUSPECTS STARTED SHOOTING OUTSIDE SCHOOL
Tuesday, May 24, at 11:27 a.m .: The video shows that the outer door of Rob Elementary School, which is believed to be the place where the shooter entered, was opened by a teacher, McCrow said during a news conference in Friday.
11:28 a.m .: The shooter’s car crashed into a ditch near the school. A teacher enters the room to pick up the phone and returns to the front door, which remains open, McCrow said. The suspect jumped from the side of the passenger of the truck with a rifle and a bag, which the officers later found out were ammunition, MRF Director Victor Escalon told a news conference on Thursday.
Meanwhile, two witnesses who were in a funeral home across the street from the school heard the crash and went to see what had happened. The suspect started firing at them, McCrow said. They both started running.
11:30 a.m.: Teacher reappears in a panic and “apparently” calls 911, McCrow said. In a separate statement, the U.S. Marshals Service said it received a call for help at 11:30 a.m. from a Uwalde police officer.
11:31 a.m .: The suspect reached the last row of vehicles in the school parking lot and started firing at the school, McCrow said. Patrol cars begin to arrive at the funeral home.
There was no school resource officer to confront the suspects outside the school, as officials described earlier, McCrow said. A school resource officer was not at the scene, but heard 911 call about a man with a gun, went to the area and headed to the back of the school, to a man he considered a suspect but was a teacher, McCrow said.
“In doing so, (the school resource officer) was driving right next to the suspect, who was squeezed behind a vehicle, where he started firing at the school,” McCrow said. The suspect fired multiple shots, he added.
FIRST OFFICERS ENTERED THE SCHOOL MORE THAN ONE HOUR BEFORE THE SHOOTER WAS KILLED
11:33 a.m .: The shooter enters the school and starts shooting in a classroom that is connected to the second grade. He fired “at least” 100 rounds, McCrow said.
11:35 a.m .: Three officers of the Uwalde Police Department enter through the same door as the suspect. Three more police officers from Uwalde and a county sheriff followed, McCrow said, for a total of seven officers at the scene.
The three senior officers went directly to the classroom door, which was closed, and two received gunshot wounds, McCrow said.
11:37 a.m .: In the next few minutes, 16 more rounds are fired.
11:42 a.m .: A source close to a teacher receives text that there is an active shooter on campus. CNN saw the text chain and confirmed the time stamps.
11:43 a.m .: Robb Elementary announces on Facebook that it is under blockade status “due to shootings in the area”, adding that “students and staff are safe in the building”.
Approximately 11:44 a.m.: Officers are calling for additional resources, equipment, bulletproof vests, negotiators and the evacuation of students and teachers, Escalon said Thursday.
11:51 a.m.: More cops are arriving, McCrow said.
12:03 pm: Officers continue to arrive in the school corridor. “There are 19 police officers in this corridor at the time,” McCrow said.
12:03 p.m .: A young girl from one of the adjoining classrooms calls 911, identifies herself and whispers to the classroom she is in. The call lasted a minute and 23 seconds. She calls a few minutes later and says many people are dead.
12:10 p.m .: A first group of U.S. deputy marshals arrives to help “federal, state and local law enforcement agencies already in place,” the marshals’ office said in a statement.
12:13 a.m .: The girl is calling 911 again, McCrow said.
12:15 a.m .: Members of the BORTAC Border Patrol Tactical Unit arrive on the scene, McCrow said.
(When the Border Patrol agents started arriving, the officer in charge of the situation had already determined that it was a barricaded site, said a source familiar with the situation. Then the team waited without disturbing the classroom where the shooter was detained – until almost 40 minutes later.
McCrow said the man who made the decision was the school district police chief, calling it a “wrong decision” not to engage with the shooter earlier.)
12:17 p.m .: Robb Elementary announces on Facebook that there is an active shooter at the school and authorities are at the scene.
12:16 pm: The girl calls 911 again and tells the dispatchers that eight to nine students are alive, McCrow said.
12:19 p.m .: Another person calls 911 from one of the two classrooms and closes when another student tells her, McCrow said.
12:21 p.m .: The suspect fires again. He is believed to be at the door, McCrow said.
Law enforcement is moving down the hall.
12:21 p.m .: Three shots are heard from another call to 911.
12:36 a.m .: The first student to call 911 again said to be very quiet and told dispatchers that “he shot the door,” McCrow said. The call lasted 21 seconds.
12:43 pm: The young girl asks the dispatchers “please send the police immediately”.
12:47 pm: The student wants the police again, McCrow said. A minute earlier, she said she heard police next door.
12:50 a.m .: Police broke into a locked classroom door using concierge keys, McCrow said. They shoot and kill suspects.
12:51 p.m. The child goes outside and the call is interrupted.
The suspect bought and had a total of 1,657 rounds, McCrow said, at least 315 of them at the school.
And 142 of them are used cartridges.
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