UVALDE, Texas – After giving conflicting information regarding the events surrounding the deadly Robb elementary school shooting, Texas Department of Public Safety officials provided a new timeline.
DPS officials said after Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother, he took off in her pick-up truck and crashed at 11:28 am.
Investigators said Ramos then fired shots at two bystanders in a nearby parking lot before entering the school at 11:40 am. DPS Director Steve McCraw initially stated Ramos was confronted by a school resource officer, but Thursday, DPS Regional Commander Victor Escalon said there was no confrontation and no resource officer was at the school at the time Ramos arrived.
Escalon said Ramos entered the school through an unlocked door. DPS officials said at 11:44 am officers entered the school and came under heavy gunfire from Ramos.
Several officers sustained injuries and began calling for additional resources.
Escalon said Ramos was killed approximately an hour later when a tactical team, led by a Border Patrol agent, breached a classroom and shot him.
Sources close to this investigation tell KPRC 2 Investigates the Border Patrol agent who is credited with stopping Ramos was eating lunch at the Mill Creek Café in the town of Leakey when he heard the call go out over his radio. Sources tell KPRC 2 even though the agent was not in uniform, he didn’t hesitate to jump into his vehicle and drive 40 miles to Robb elementary. We are told the agent is a member of Border Patrol’s tactical team known as BORTAC.
The Border Patrol agent was wounded during the shooting when a bullet grazed the top of his head, according to sources. Pictures posted to social media showed staples were needed to close the wound.
Parents of students at the school began questioning police officers’ initial response to the shootings. Videos began surfacing on Wednesday showing parents confronting and pleading with officers to go into the school while the shootings were taking place.
“They kind of hesitated for quite a bit, like, I say 15-20 minutes,” said Bob Estrada.
Estrada lives across the street from Robb Elementary School and has a grandson in the 2nd grade.
“They ran only up so far and kind of stood there, like, you know, waiting for somebody else to get there,” said Estrada.
Estrada’s grandson was not hurt and told his family he and his class were coming back from lunch when they heard several gunshots. Laura Bell Castanon lost her niece, Annabelle Rodriguez, during the shooting.
“I think they could have prevented and maybe saved some lives while the kids were still, you know.. after it happened it,” she said while visiting a memorial set-up in front of the school.
DPS officials said they understood the questions coming from parents, but defended the actions of the officers who first responded to the shooting.
“Officers received gunfire, they don’t make entry initially because of the gunfire they’re receiving. But we have officers calling for additional resources. Everybody that’s in the area of tactical teams. ‘We need equipment, we need special equipment, we need body armor, we need precision rifleman, negotiators,” said Escalon. “So during this time, that they’re making those calls to bring in help to solve this problem and stop it immediately. They’re also evacuating personnel, let’s say personnel, students, teachers.”
