The more we learn about the police response to the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, the angrier we become.
That’s because, as a killer rampaged through classrooms killing 19 students and 2 teachers, law enforcement stood by, refusing to engage the subject despite the tacit understanding and training that they are to explicitly confront active school shooters.
To make matters worse, several videos soon emerged on social media depicting police restraining parents and bystanders from taking action while they would not.
This week, as a heated probe into the response continues, new images of well-equipped but unwilling officers inside the school has prompted backlash again.
Multiple officers were inside Robb Elementary School armed with rifles and at least one ballistic shield by 11:52 a.m. on May 24, but they didn’t breach a classroom door and take out the gunman who killed 19 children and two adults for nearly an hour, according to documents reviewed by the Austin-American Statesman.
The new details shed light on the shifting timeline that law enforcement has provided about the response to the third-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old suspected gunman, walked into the school at 11:33 a.m. then entered a pair of adjoining classrooms and opened fire.
The timeline was infuriating to residents.
Three minutes later, 11 officers entered the school. The first officer with a ballistic shield arrived at 11:52 a.m., while two other officers with ballistics shield arrived at 12:03 p.m. and 12:05 p.m., according to the Austin American-Statesman.
After police entered the school, the gunman could be heard firing shots inside the classroom at 11:44 a.m. and 12:21 p.m., the Statesman reports.
Video of the inaction was soon circulating on social media:
Law enforcement officers are shown on video inside Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School at 12:04 p.m. on May 24.
They have guns. They have shields.
Police did not enter the classroom where the shooter was for another 46 minutes. https://t.co/LPsugwQ0Oj pic.twitter.com/QJqxIv6mpd
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) June 21, 2022
The revelations will almost certainly add fuel to the fire in Uvalde, where residents are unapologetic in their anger at local law enforcement.
