Two days after an 18-year-old gunman walked into a Texas elementary school and massacred 19 children and two teachers, investigators continue to piece together a timeline for what happened.
During a news conference Victor Escalon Jr., South Texas regional director for the state Department of Public Safety said,
“With all the different agencies that are involved, we’re working every angle that’s available. We won’t stop until we get all the answers that we possibly can.”
Here is the timeline that authorities have released between 11:28 a.m when Salvador Ramos crashed a Ford Pickup truck into a ditch behind Robb Elementary School and 12:58 p.m. when law enforcement radio chatter announced that Ramos had been killed.
Authorities say before Ramos crashed the truck in the ditch he shot his grandmother in the face, and before he entered the school he fired shots at people standing nearby.
Escalon said, Ramos shot at two “witnesses” as he was walking toward the school,
“Now he’s in the parking lot, shooting at the school. Multiple times.”
Escalon stated that officials’ early reports that Ramos encountered a school police officer was wrong, and that Ramos “walked in unobstructed” at 11:40 a.m. adding, “He was not confronted by anybody.”
11:43 a.m. Robb Elementary announces a ‘lock-down’
11:44 a.m. Seven law enforcement officers entered the school.
“It is important for our community to know that our officers responded within minutes” alongside school resource officers.”
Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez. said the gunman opened fire hitting two officers, with Escolon adding,
“They hear gunfire. They take rounds. They move back, get cover. And during that time, they approach where the suspect is at.”
Romos barricaded himself in one of the classrooms. Survivor accounts say that Romos looked at one of the teachers and said ‘Goodnight’ before shooting her. He then told the students in the classroom that they were ‘going to die.’
“Officers are there, the initial officers,” Escalon said, however they didn’t enter the classroom because they were being shot at. Escolon said that Ramos fired most of his shots early on, but couldn’t give an exact number.
