Mail Online

Why did they stop us from getting our children out?

From Tom Leonard in Uvalde, Texas

PARENTS whose children were trapped in the Uvalde school massacre accused police of a fatal delay in storming the building.

The father of one of the 19 pupils who died revealed that he and other parents wanted to charge the school but were held back by heavily armed officers at the perimeter – even as shots could be heard from inside.

According to a senior Texas official, the killer, Salvador Ramos, 18, was in the school for between 40 and 60 minutes before officers forcibly entered and killed him.

As Ramos barricaded himself into a crowded classroom and began shooting, the police appeared to simply wait outside.

A video posted on social media showed distraught parents outside desperately pleading with more than a dozen police officers with assault rifles and tactical gear to go in and save their children.

Two restrained one of the fathers, pinning him down while a colleague brandished a Taser. Parents screamed: ‘What the f*** are you doing? Get inside the building!’

Javier Cazares said he rushed there after hearing of trouble at his daughter’s school. ‘There were five or six of [us] fathers, hearing the gunshots, and [police officers] were telling us to move back,’ he said. ‘Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to.’ He added: ‘We didn’t care about us. We wanted to storm the building… we wanted to get our babies out.’

Later, Mr Cazares learned that his daughter, nine-year-old Jacklyn, was among the dead in America’s

worst school shooting for a decade. ‘There were at least 40 lawmen armed to the teeth but they didn’t do a darn thing (until) it was far too late,’ he said.

Texas officials said border patrol agents had to wait for a member of staff to unlock the classroom. Tony Gonzales, the local congressman, said he had been told that after an initial exchange of fire with police, there was a ‘30 minute lull’ as police broke windows so children and teachers could escape.

Last night the New York Times reported police believed most, if not all, of the victims likely died in the first few minutes of the attack. Local officers ‘took rounds’ within four minutes of Ramos entering the school, Victor Escalon, from the local department of public safety, said. Ramos entered a pair of adjoining classrooms and was pursued by two officers, but they were both shot and injured.

As more officers arrived, Ramos shot at them through the door and walls until police killed him at around 1pm. Steven McCraw, of

the Texas department of public safety, said: ‘Obviously, this is a situation [in which] we failed in the sense that we didn’t prevent this mass attack.’

An unnamed child who survived described how Ramos told them: ‘It’s time to die.’ The boy said he and four others hid under a table as Ramos shot their classmates.

The final two victims were yesterday identified as Layla Salazar, ten, described by her father as a keen swimmer and a ‘whole lot of fun’. The father of Alithia Ramirez, also ten and an aspiring artist, posted a picture of her with angel wings on Facebook.

They were two faces in a smiling class photo taken at Robb Elementary

earlier this year. Last night an investigation was launched by the Texas Rangers into the local police response.

Uvalde police chief Daniel Rodriguez said: ‘I understand questions are surfacing regarding the details of what occurred. I know answers will not come fast enough during this trying time.’

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2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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