Texas: Police Stops School Shooting Plan With Arrest of 2 Teenagers, 2 Minors

Law enforcement officers in Texas arrested four males, including two juveniles, concerning threats against a school in Donna City in Hidalgo County, local media reported.

The threats came two days following a Texas School Shooting in Uvalde on Tuesday, where 19 elementary school students and two teachers were shot dead.

The Donna Police Department arrested Nathaniel Seth Montelongo and Barbarito Pantoja, both 17 years old. They were slapped with charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a report from local news outlet Valley Central.

Donna Police Chief Donald Crist said that they were able to stop "an act of physical violence and harm" to students.

According to a report by Fox News, the students are being held on a $750,000 bond.

Police said they nabbed more minor students in connection with the incident after getting information that the group was plotting an attack on an unnamed Donna school.

Due to threats to the district and in light of the tragedy in Uvalde, the Donna ISD issued a statement on Thursday suspending classes.

Gunman Was Not Confronted By Police

Meanwhile, a Texas law enforcement official said that the 18-year-old gunman was not confronted by police before entering the school, contradicting earlier statements from authorities and raising new questions about the police response to the deadly Texas school shooting.

As per a CNN report, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Regional Director Victor Escalon said the suspect "walked in unobstructed initially."

"So from the grandmother's house to the (ditch), to the school, into the school, he was not confronted by anybody," he added.

On Wednesday, a DPS representative stated a school resource officer "engaged" with the suspect before he entered the building.

Salvador Ramos, the suspect, shot his grandmother and then crashed his truck in a ditch outside the school around 11:28 a.m., according to Escalon.

He got out of the truck and shot two guys across the street with a gun. According to Escalon, he then approached the school and fired multiple shots at the building before entering via an unlocked door around 11:40 a.m.

Former principal Ross McGlothlin said that door is usually locked "unless you are leaving to go home on the school bus."

The DPS official said here was no school resource officer on-site or available at the time. Inside, the suspect entered a classroom and fired more than 25 shots.

Escalon's remarks occurred during a press conference that added to the chaos surrounding the chronology of Tuesday's Texas School shooting tragedy, which is regarded as the worst school shooting in the United States in nearly a decade, and it was at least the 30th shooting at a K-12 school in 2022.

School, Police Response Now Crucial Part of Investigation

According to law enforcement sources, as reported by ABC News, the response of school administrators and law enforcement is becoming a crucial focus in the continuing investigation into the Uvalde school massacre.

It's unclear whether any students or teachers heard an official request for a lockdown once the gunman walked into the building, the sources said.

Moreover, authorities are also looking into whether officers on the scene may have made further attempts to enter the school to stop the gunman's spree sooner. Responding police were confronted with gunfire and requested tactical squads with appropriate equipment to enter the classroom and neutralize the gunman, sources said.

Tags

Mass shooting, Texas