As gunfire rang out through the hallways and classrooms of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, terrified teachers frantically called 911, describing it as “lots of gunfire, lots of gunfire,” while another teacher sobbed on the phone after a dispatcher urged them to stay quiet.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!” the first teacher yelled before hanging up.
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The calls, along with body camera footage and surveillance footage, were included in a massive collection of audio and video recordings released by Uvalde city officials on Saturday after a lengthy legal battle. News organizations including The Associated Press sued after authorities initially refused to release information about the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
One of the first calls police received on the morning of May 24, 2022, was from a woman who called 911 to report a pickup truck had crashed into a ditch and the occupants had fled onto school grounds.
A woman cries as she leaves the Uvalde Civic Center after a reported shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (William Luther/San Antonio Express-News via The Associated Press)
“Oh, they have guns,” she said.
In a 911 call a few minutes later, a man yelled, “He’s shooting at kids! Stand back!”
“He’s in the school! He’s in the school,” he shouted, along with other people shouting.
“Oh, God, in the name of Jesus, he’s in the school shooting kids,” he says.
The delayed police response to the shooting – some 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter in a classroom full of dead and injured students and teachers – has been widely condemned as a major failure.
The gunman, Salvador Ramos, 18, was shot and killed by authorities at 12:50 p.m. Authorities said the gunman had entered the school at 11:33 a.m.
Shortly before arriving at the school, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother at her home, then left the home and drove to the school in his pickup truck.
Ramos’ distraught uncle tried to get his nephew to stop shooting, calling 911 multiple times and pleading with them to keep him on the line.
A banner is displayed at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School, the site of a mass shooting in May that left 19 students and two teachers dead. (AP/Eric Gay)
“Maybe he’ll listen to me, he’ll listen to everything I say,” a man who identified himself as Armando Ramos said in the 911 call. “Maybe he can do something to turn himself in or turn himself in,” Ramos said, his voice trembling.
He said his nephew, who had been at home with him the night before, had been in his bedroom all night and said he was upset because his grandmother was “making too much noise.”
“Oh, God, please don’t do anything stupid,” the man said over the phone. “I think he’s shooting kids.”
But the offer came too late, just as the shooting ended and a police officer shot and killed Salvador Ramos.
Multiple federal and state investigations into the slow police response have uncovered cascading problems in training, communication, leadership and technology, raising questions about whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers in the South Texas city of about 15,000 people 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of San Antonio. Families of the victims have long sought an explanation for the slow police response.
Brett Cross’s 10-year-old nephew, Uzziah Garcia, was among those killed. Cross, who raised Garcia as his son, was outraged that the records were not made public and that it took so long for them to be released.
A heart is painted on a banner hanging on a fence in front of Robb Elementary School. (AP/Eric Gay)
“If we thought we could have everything we wanted, we’d ask for a time machine to go back in time and save our children, but we can’t. So all we’re asking for is justice, accountability and transparency, and they’re not going to give it to us,” he said. “I think this is a small, simple request that we should all be asking for.”
Two of the officers who responded to the scene now face criminal charges. Former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school employee Adrian Gonzalez have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of child abandonment and child endangerment. The Uvalde Texas trooper who was suspended was reinstated earlier this month.
In an interview with CNN this week, Arredondo said he believes he has been “scapegoated” for the failed law enforcement response.
Some family members have called for more police prosecutions and have filed federal and state lawsuits against police, social media, online gaming companies and the gun manufacturer that made the rifle used by the gunman.
Just before the officers finally stormed into the classroom, one officer can be heard on body camera expressing concern about friendly fire.
“I’m a little worried about an officer-on-offense,” the officer said. “We’ve got a lot of rifles here.”
Law enforcement officers outside Robb Elementary School following a shooting on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez Mills)
After the classroom was entered, gunfire continued for about five to six seconds, and police rushed in as someone yelled, “Look at the kids! Look at the kids! Look at the kids!”
Less than a minute into the chaos, someone yelled, “Where’s the suspect?” Someone else quickly replied, “He’s dead!”
The police response included about 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents, 91 state police officers, school police, and city police. While dozens of officers stood in the hallways trying to decide what to do, students in classrooms called 911 on their cellphones, pleading for help, and desperate parents gathered outside the building begging officers to enter the classrooms. A tactical team eventually entered the classroom and shot and killed the gunman.
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Footage previously released from school cameras showed officers armed with rifles and bulletproof shields waiting in a hallway.
But a city-commissioned report defended the actions of local police, saying officers showed “immense strength” and “calm thinking” when they faced the gunman’s fire and refrained from firing into a darkened classroom.
