“We are trying to save the rest of our lives,” the transcript said, according to the Times. “We are ready to break in, but this door is locked,” said Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, Uvalde School District Police Chief, at around 12:30 p.m., the Times reported, citing a copy. Arredondo has been identified by authorities as the official who led law enforcement’s wrong response to the shooting. The Times reported that the officers had become impatient and expressed concern. “If there are children in there, we have to go in there,” an official was quoted as saying by the Times, citing investigative documents. “Whoever is in charge will determine it,” another officer replied, according to the Times. According to the CNN events schedule, the first police officers entered the school building at approximately 11:35 a.m. – moments after the 18-year-old gunman, who killed 19 young students and two teachers that day. At approximately 11:44 a.m., officers on the scene demanded additional resources, equipment, body armor, and negotiators and the evacuation of students and teachers, officials said. By 12:03 p.m., “up to 19 officers” were gathered in the school corridor, while the gunman was in the adjacent classrooms where the massacre took place. At the same time, a schoolgirl from inside one of the adjoining classrooms called 911 to identify her and the classroom she was in, officials said. Call again at 12:13 p.m. and then again several minutes later, telling the senders that eight to nine students were still alive, according to authorities. Law enforcement broke into the classroom door at 12:50 p.m., using keys from a janitor, and shot and killed the suspect. At a news conference on May 27, Public Security Director Steven McCroe said the order was not immediately breached because the commander of the incident – Arredondo – considered the scene to be a “blocking situation” rather than an active sniper situation. . He said the district police chief believed that “there was time to get the keys back and to wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go in and break down the door and deal with the matter”. “From the background where I am sitting now, of course it was not the right decision,” McCroe said at the time, referring to the supervisor’s appeal not to confront the shooter. “It was a wrong decision. Period. There is no excuse for that.” CNN contacted DPS and Uvalde County Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee for comment. In an effort to get more answers about the tragedy, a Texas House research committee held its first hearing on the mission Thursday and could produce a preliminary report by the end of the month. A source close to the commission said the report is expected to focus only on the facts and include a chronological order of events, a timeline and details about the shooter. The commission is quasi-judicial and has the power of attorney, and all witness statements will be sworn in, the source said. The Rangers of Texas, an investigative division of the state’s public safety department, are also investigating the massacre and the response of law enforcement. The US Department of Justice is also examining the response of law enforcement agencies at the request of Mayor Uvalde Don McLaughlin. In a statement issued Thursday in response to a Times article, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s press secretary Rene Eze said: “Investigations by the Texas Rangers and the FBI are ongoing and we look forward to announcing the full results to the victims. families and the public, who deserve the full truth about what happened on that tragic day. “ CNN’s Christina Maxouri and Rosa Flores contributed to this report.
