During the horrific shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school on Tuesday, at least two children contacted 911, one of whom begged for assistance.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven C. McCraw stated at a Friday afternoon press conference that one girl dialed 911 more than five times. He did not identify the children, but claimed they both survived the Robb Elementary School attack.
Survivors in Texas School Shooting Claim They Called 911 Mutiple Times
The incident claimed the lives of 19 kids and two teachers. At 12:03 p.m. local time, the first 911 call was received. According to McCraw, the child indicated she was in room 112. One minute and 23 seconds passed during the call.
He stated the girl called back and reported many people were dead, NBC News reported. At 12:16 p.m., she called again to tell that eight or nine pupils were still alive. According to McCraw, a second student dialed 911 from room 111. He claimed that the girl hung up after another student instructed her to.
Three shots could be heard in the background during a 911 call, according to McCraw. At 12:36 p.m., another call came in although it was just for 21 seconds. The first girl contacted 911 again, according to the director, and "was advised to stay on the line and be extremely quiet."
The girl urged a 911 operator to "please send the cops now" between 12:43 and 12:47 p.m., McCraw said. The girl stated she could hear the cops next door about the same time. Per USA Today, the intense press conference on Friday addressed several of the police's inconsistent statements in the days following the Tuesday shooting at Robb Elementary School.
It also raised additional concerns about law enforcement's response to the incident, such as why cops stayed in a corridor outside a classroom where the gunman was holed up for more than 45 minutes while gunshots erupted irregularly and students dialed 911 for assistance. According to authorities, the shooter gained access to the school through a door forced open by a teacher minutes before the attack.
Inconsistent in Police Protocols Cause the Operation a 35-Minute Delay
At 11:27 a.m., a teacher at the school propped open the entrance, according to video security evidence. The suspect slammed into a roadside ditch between the school and a funeral home across the street a minute later. When they discovered the driver was armed, two bystanders tried to help but fled.
The teacher who pushed up the door dashed inside to retrieve a phone and contact 911 to report a gunman in a ditch. Investigators claimed that a school district police officer was not inside the school when the gunman arrived, and that, contrary to prior reports, the officer had not approached suspect Salvador Ramos outside the building, after two days of frequently contradictory information.
When that officer did react to the initial 911 call at 11:30 a.m., h e drove right by the gunman, who was crouching behind a car parked outside the school, because he was worried about the crash and a man with a gun. According to McCraw, that's when the shooter began firing at the building.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is reviewing law enforcement activities as part of its continuing investigation into Tuesday's shooting, ABC News has learned.
That could include anything from why the Uvalde ISD officer drove past the gunman at first to whether 911 caller information was properly relayed to officers on the scene to why the incident commander incorrectly believed different protocols should apply, resulting in the tactical team breach's 35-minute delay.
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