Police officers waited 74 minutes before they intervened and killed young gunman Salvador Ramos, who killed 19 children and two female teachers at Rob’s school
A video that is almost impossible to watch with a cool head and which was released yesterday Tuesday by two local media in the state of Texas (south) shows how police officers waited 74 minutes before they intervene and kill the young gunman Salvador Ramos, who killed 19 children and two teachers at Rob Primary School in Uvalde on May 24.
The footage, from surveillance cameras, a cell phone and a body camera, was released by the Austin-American Statesman newspaper and local television station KVUE.
The footage, which relatives of the victims demanded to be released but the authorities never did, puts law enforcement in an even more difficult position, the way they acted was described as a “complete failure” by the director of the public health service Texas, Stephen Macro.
For almost an hour and a quarter, dozens of police officers are shown arriving, increasingly heavily armed, without anyone entering the classroom where the gunman, a high school student, and his young victims were.
The video starts with arrival of the 18-year-old at the scene of the tragedy: loses control of the car he is driving near Rob’s elementary school and is involved in a traffic accident. Two people rush to help him, but he greets them by shooting them. As they run away, he is pictured walking towards the school.
The next shot is a clip of a 911 call from a school worker at 11:32. The school employee can be heard shouting at children to “go to your classes!”.
At 11:33, the young man walks calmly into the school, passing as he crosses the hall a lock of hair over his eye, holding his rifle with the barrel pointed at the floor.
A little boy appears in the corner of the corridor, seems to want to follow him, when he sees him pointing a gun into a room and firing.
From then on, successive gunshots are heard, for about three minutes, until the arrival of the first police officers, at 11:36.
There are at least eight of them, pistols in hand and wearing bulletproof vests. First, they move towards the classroom. Gunshots are heard. They retreat to the hallway.
Thirty-six minutes later, they are still in the same spot, but more police have arrived, equipped with rifles, bulletproof shields, and even helmets.
There are at least twenty of them, from various units. But they are not yet moving towards the hall.
Disturbing detail: at 12:30, one pours disinfectant gel into his hands from a container on the wall.
At 12:50, gunfire is heard. One team has now killed the gunslinger. The video stops.
Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, which campaigns for stricter gun laws, commented on the footage via Twitter.
“Police in combat gear are waiting in the school corridor and even stopping to put hand sanitizer while children and teachers are being massacred,” he blasted, demanding more transparency about police failures.
Various investigations have begun, including one by the Department of Justice, but their findings have not yet been made public.
RES-EMP
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