Police knew of injured at Texas school while waiting: Report
India Today
Police waited more than hour to confront the gunman, even as anguished parents outside the school urged officers to go inside.
Police waited for protective equipment as they delayed entering the Texas elementary school where a gunman inside killed 19 children and two teachers, even as they became aware that some victims needed medical treatment, according to records obtained by The New York Times.
The details published Thursday by the Times provided a clearer picture of the slow law enforcement response as the massacre unfolded at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Police waited more than hour to confront the gunman, even as anguished parents outside the school urged officers to go inside.
Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief, led the response on the scene of the May 24 shooting. A man who investigators believe to be Arredondo could be heard on body camera footage talking about how much time was passing.
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“People are going to ask why we’re taking so long,” said the man, according to a transcript of officers’ body camera footage obtained by the newspaper. “We’re trying to preserve the rest of the life.”
Sixty officers had assembled on the scene by the time four officers made entry, according to the report. The two classrooms where the shooting took place included 33 children and three teachers.
Not all the victims were found dead when officers finally went inside: one teacher died in an ambulance and three children died at nearby hospitals, according to the records obtained by the Times, which included a review of law enforcement documents and video that have been gathered as part of the investigation.
