Texas officials launch investigation into Uvalde police response to school shooting: Conflicting statements over gunfight with the shooter and videos show parents being held down by cops outside while kids were trapped with the gunman
- Salvador Ramos arrived at Robb Elementary School at 11.30am on Tuesday morning after crashing his truck
- A school resource officer at the scene failed to stop him from making his way inside and barricading himself
- He locked himself in a fourth grade classroom where he shot dead 19 kids and two of their teachers
- It took police at least hour to breach the classroom to shoot him - and it's now claimed they needed a key to get into the room
- As they struggled to get him inside, desperate parents were held back from the school by cops with tasers
- In new video, police are shown restraining one frantic man who asked them why they weren't in the school
- 'We're taking care of it!' yelled one officer who was holding parents back from the scene
- One law enforcement official anonymously revealed cops took so long to get into the classroom because they needed a key
- It was only when a staff member found one for them that they got inside, according to NPR
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Texas officials have launched an investigation into the Uvalde police response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday after conflicting statements over whether cops fired at the gunman as he made his way inside.
Salvador Ramos, 18, arrived at the school in Uvalde at 11.30am, crashing his car into a ditch.
A school resource officer was at the scene but he failed to stop him from making his way inside.
Two other cops also rushed to the school at that time - Ramos had just shot his grandmother in the face at their home less than five miles away. She survived and called the police.
It was first reported that those cops exchanged gunfire with Ramos, but police now say they cannot confirm that.
Ramos went on to barricade himself inside the classroom, killing 19 kids and two teachers, before a SWAT team breached the door and shot him around an hour later.
Sources say police were struggling to get into the classroom and needed a key to open the door.
Eventually, a border patrol agent was able to get inside and the shooting was declared over at 1.06pm.
But it questions remain over why it took police so long to get into the classroom where the kids were trapped with the gunman.
Frustrated parents were standing outside the school begging cops to go inside when the shooting was unfolding.
Javier Cazares, whose nine-year-old daughter was murdered, says cops were 'just standing there' and waiting for protective shields to arrive at the scene before they went in.
'They said they rushed in and all that, we didn’t see that,' he told The New York Times, adding that many were 'just standing there.'
'There were plenty of men out there armed to the teeth that could have gone in faster. This could have been over in a couple minutes,' he said.
He added that police were faster to escort Beto O'Rourke out of the press conference yesterday when he started heckling the governor than they were to get into the school.
Angel Garza, whose daughter was killed, was handcuffed after trying to run into the school when he heard that a 'girl called Amerie' had been shot. He later found out that she was among those who died while giving medical aid to other children who escaped.
Derek Sotelo, 26, who works in a tire shop nearby, said parents were begging to be let into the school.
'They were just angry, especially the dads. We were wondering, "What the heck is going on? Are they going in?" 'The dads were saying, "Give me the vest, I’ll go in there!'
The shooting rampage began at 11am when Ramos shot his grandmother dead. At 11.15am, he sent a message to a girl in Germany telling her he was on his way to 'shoot an elementary school'. He crashed his truck at 11.30am and made his way to the school with one AR-15 rifle. At 11.32am, he bypassed at least one cop at the school entrance. He got inside, barricaded himself in a classroom and managed to stay there for up to an hour - terrorizing kids - before he was finally gunned down.
Video shows Texas cops holding down a parent outside Robb Elementary School on Tuesday while a shooting unfolded inside. It took police an hour to get inside the building and bring down the shooter
Cops hold down a parent outside the school, left, while others wait in anguish for news of if their kids were murdered, right
A woman is seen on Tuesday being turned back by law enforcement officers outside the school in Uvalde, Texas. Some were heard screaming at the police to get inside the building. It was unclear when the footage was taken, and if the crime scene was still active
Jacinto Cazares, whose 10-year-old daughter Jacklyn was killed in the Uvalde school shooting on Tuesday, is pictured on Wednesday outside the school
One child told KENS 5 that he was able to hide under a desk, but that a girl who yelled out 'help' when police arrived was executed.
'When the cops came, the cop said: "Yell if you need help!" And one of the persons in my class said 'help.' The guy overheard and he came in and shot her. The cop barged into that classroom. The guy shot at the cop. And the cops started shooting,' the boy said.
One shocking video shows them even holding some parents back as they tried to get inside.
The footage shows a parent being pinned to the ground by an officer, while another carrying a taser stands guard nearby.
Other footages shows parents begging the cops: 'What are you doing!? Get inside the building!'
Another woman could be heard to say 'They're trapped inside' as howls of pained anguish rang out in the background.
It was unclear at what time the footage was shot. It also emerged Wednesday that Customs and Border Patrol agents who rushed to the scene had to grab a key from school staff to open the door of the classroom where the bloodbath took place.
That is because they were unable to break the door down themselves.
The first 911 call was received at 11:32am on Tuesday, and the gunman was killed at 1pm - after a Border Patrol agent was given a key to the door, behind which the gunman was barricaded with the fourth grade class.
Javier Cazares, whose fourth grade daughter, Jacklyn Cazares, was killed in the attack, said he raced to the school when he heard about the shooting, arriving while police were still gathered outside the building.
Upset that police were not moving in, he raised the idea of charging into the school with several other bystanders.
'Let's just rush in because the cops aren't doing anything like they are supposed to,' he said.
'More could have been done. They were unprepared.'
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