stock here: I have been busy so I barely paid attention to Uvalde school shooting. The negligence, incompetence, and the suspected orders to “stand down” are a sign of the “mission accomplished” nature of the destruction / collapse of our law enforcement systems. And yes too, the lack of prosecution of this cowardice (or worse, intentional maximization of death to encourage the recent passage of damaging but ineffective “gun control”)
Being in Texas and being a week before the NRA convention there, is beyond #FaF.
September 2021
Shooter asks sister for help to buy gun
Before turning 18, the shooter asks his sister to help him buy a gun. She refuses.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
November 30, 2021
Shooter purchases gun-related accessories
The shooter purchases gun-related accessories online, including rifle slings, a military carrier vest and optics.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
February 28, 2022
Social media group chat discusses the gunman being a “school shooter”
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
March 1-3, 2022
Gunman sends message on Instagram about guns
On March 1, the shooter discusses wanting to purchase a gun in a group chat on Instagram. In another Instagram chat on March 3, someone tells the shooter, “Word on the street you’re buying a gun.” The shooter replies, “Just bought something RN [right now].”
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
April 10-13, 2022
Gunman purchases 60 high-capacity magazines online
The gunman purchases 60 high-capacity magazines online.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
May 14, 2022
Gunman makes Instagram post
The gunman posts on Instagram “10 more days.” A user comments, “Are you going to shoot up the school or something?” The shooter replies, “No and stop asking dumb questions and you’ll see.” Investigators didn’t specify what the post consisted of.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
May 16-18, 2022
Shooter purchases guns, ammunition
The shooter turns 18, the legal age for purchasing a rifle in Texas, on May 16. That same day, he purchases a Smith & Wesson model M&P 15 rifle, a Daniel Defense rifle and 1,740 rounds of 5.56 ammunition. On May 18, he purchases an additional 375 rounds of Winchester 5.56 ammunition.
(A previous briefing received from state authorities by Sen. John Whitmire said that the shooter legally purchased two AR platform rifles from a local, federally licensed gun store on May 17 and May 20.)
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
May 24, 2022: Day of shooting
Around 11 a.m.
Shooter sends Facebook messages to girl in Germany
The shooter sends private Facebook messages to a girl in Germany he met online and tells her about his plans to shoot his grandmother.
- Source: Gov. Greg Abbott press conference on May 25, 2022
11:20 a.m.
Shooter sends another Facebook message
The shooter sends a direct message to at least one recipient saying, “I’m shoot my grandma in her head rn [right now]. And shoot up a elementary school.”
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:21 a.m.
“I just shot my grandma in her head. Ima go shoot up a elementary school rn [right now].”
— Gunman’s text message to a contact after shooting his grandmother
Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:22-11:27 a.m.
Shooter steals vehicle and drives to school
After the gunman shoots his grandmother in the face, he steals her vehicle and drives from his home to Robb Elementary School, which is about a 2-mile drive. (Abbott has said that the grandmother called 911.)
- Source: Gov. Greg Abbott press conference on May 25, 2022; Texas Department of Public Safety
11:28 a.m.
Shooter arrives at school
The shooter crashes the vehicle in a ditch near the school. He exits the vehicle, fires three rounds with his gun at two male witnesses near a funeral home and then flees.
Geraldine St.
Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home Shooter crashes vehicle Robb Elementary School 100 feet
- Satellite Image: Google Earth
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:29 a.m.
A teacher calls 911
A teacher at the elementary school makes a 911 call reporting the crash and seeing the shooter, noting he had a gun.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:31 a.m.
Shooter walks through the school parking lot
The shooter reaches the last row of vehicles in the school parking lot, firing his rifle in between vehicles at the school throughout.
Surveillance footage also shows a school district police patrol vehicle entering the school parking lot and driving by the concealed shooter.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety press conference on May 27; Texas Department of Public Safety
11:32 a.m.
Gunman fires multiple shots outside the school
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:33 a.m.
Shooter enters the school
The shooter enters the school through a back door on the northwest side of the school and makes his way to classroom 111, according to school surveillance footage. Authorities originally said a teacher left the door propped open, but later said a teacher closed the door and the automatic lock failed.
The shooter briefly walks out the classroom door and then goes back in, shooting some more. He shoots at least 100 rounds inside this room and Room 112, which are connected. Arredondo said the rooms were locked, but in the surveillance footage the shooter didn’t appear to encounter a locked door when he entered Room 111.
Geraldine St.
Old Carrizo Rd.
Gunman enters
through
back door
Parent drop-off/
pickup area
Gunman shoots
inside classrooms
111 and 112
Robb Elementary
School
100 feet
- Satellite Image: Google Earth
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:35 a.m.
Uvalde police enter the school
Three Uvalde police officers rush to the same door that the gunman used to enter, which was closed. They enter and receive grazing wounds from the gunman. They retreat.
Pete Arredondo, the chief of the school district’s police department, also arrives at the scene around this time. He does not have his radios. Arredondo wanted both hands on his gun if he encountered the shooter and believed the radios would have slowed him down, his attorney said.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:36 a.m.
More law enforcement officers enter school
School surveillance footage shows four more law enforcement officers entering the school through the same door that the gunman used. An additional four officers enter the school through the south entrance. (DPS previously said a deputy with the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office was among those who entered around this time.)
Meanwhile, the gunman continues firing as law enforcement officers approach classrooms 111 and 112.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:37 a.m.
Gunman fires 16 more rounds
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:38 a.m.
Law enforcement indicates that the suspect is contained
According to body-camera footage from an officer, law enforcement indicates that the suspect is contained.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:40 a.m.
Arredondo calls Uvalde Police Department; more gunfire
According to 911 recordings, Arredondo calls the landline of the Uvalde Police Department from his cellphone to describe the situation.
Meanwhile, gunfire coming from the shooter can be heard through school surveillance footage.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety records
11:41 a.m.
Law enforcement indicates suspect is barricaded and still shooting
Law enforcement indicates that the suspect is barricaded in a classroom and is still shooting. In addition, law enforcement dispatch asks if the door is locked, and an officer replies that they don’t know, but that they have a Halligan, an ax-like firefighting tool used to breach doors.
Meanwhile, four additional law enforcement officers enter the school from an east hallway.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:43 a.m.
Robb Elementary and Uvalde police post on Facebook
Robb Elementary announces on Facebook it is under a lockdown status “due to gunshots in the area.”
“The students and staff are safe in the building. The building is secure in a Lockdown Status,” school officials say in the announcement.
At the same time, the Uvalde Police Department posts on Facebook, “Large Police presence at Robb Elementary. We ask the public to avoid the area.”
11:44 a.m.
Police officers are inside
Police with the city of Uvalde and the school district are inside the school. Uvalde police officers enter the building where the shooter is from the north entrance. They hear gunfire, are shot at, move back and get cover.
Arredondo witnesses the gunfire. He says he then checks the door to the classroom that the shooter is in, finding it locked. This was not shown in the footage of the shooting provided by DPS and reviewed by the Tribune. DPS Director Steve McCraw also testified in a hearing that the classroom door could not have been locked from the inside.
Arredondo uses his cellphone to call for SWAT teams, snipers, extrication tools and keys to the classrooms.
“Initial officers are there and receive gunfire, therefore do not make entry. Officers call everyone in the area for additional resources: tactical teams, equipment, specialty equipment, body armor, precision rifleman [and] negotiators. They’re evacuating students and teachers during this time,” Victor Escalon, a DPS official, said at a May 26 press conference.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:48 a.m.
Officer’s wife is shot
Uvalde CISD police officer Ruben Ruiz can be heard telling other officers as he arrives inside the school that his wife, Eva Mireles, has been shot, according to a transcript of police body camera footage.
- Source: New York Times review of body-camera footage; DPS records
11:50 a.m.
Law enforcement indicates people need to get out hallway
A law enforcement officer says that people need to get out of the hallway and proclaims, “Chief [Arredondo] is in there, Chief is in charge right now, hold on.”
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety records
11:51-11:52 a.m.
More police arrive
School surveillance footage shows seven law enforcement officers entering the door on the northwest side of the school, the same entrance the gunman used.
A minute later, the first ballistic shield is brought through the same door.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:54 a.m.
Onlooker starts filming
Twenty-one minutes after the shooter enters the school, an onlooker, Angel Ledezma, streams a live video showing parents begging police to enter the school.
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fangel.ledezma.982%2Fvideos%2F737722693899943%2F&show_text=false&width=267&t=0
11:56 a.m.
Law enforcement asks about kids in classroom
A law enforcement officer asks if there are still children in the classroom, according to body-camera footage. The officer says, “If there’s kids in there, we need to go in there.” Someone responds, “Whoever is in charge will determine that.”
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
11:58 a.m.
“The school chief of police [Arredondo] is in there with him.”
— One officer’s response after another asks where the shooter is
Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:01 p.m.
Law enforcement officer indicates a hostage rescue situation
A DPS special agent indicates that this is a hostage rescue situation and that officers should “go in.” Someone replies, “Don’t you think we should have a supervisor approve that?”
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:03 p.m.
Police continue to arrive, and a student calls 911
A student calls 911 from Room 112 for a minute and 23 seconds and identifies herself in a whisper.
Meanwhile, as many as 19 officers are positioned in a school hallway. School surveillance footage also shows a second ballistic shield being brought through the back door that the gunman used.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:04 p.m.
A third ballistic shield is brought into the school
School surveillance footage shows a third ballistic shield being taken through the back door.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:10 p.m.
Student calls back; SWAT officers arrive
The student calls 911 again and says multiple people are dead.
Meanwhile, SWAT officers arrive on the scene, according to law enforcement body-camera footage.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:11 p.m.
Arredondo requests master key
Arredondo, the chief of the school district’s police department, requests a master key, according to law enforcement body-camera footage.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:13 p.m.
Student calls 911 again
The student calls 911 a third time. Authorities have not expanded on her comments during this call.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:15 p.m.
Border Patrol Tactical Unit arrives
Border Patrol Tactical Unit members carrying shields arrive.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:16 p.m.
Student calls 911 once again
The student calls 911 again, saying eight or nine students are alive.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:17 p.m.
Arredondo attempts to test keys on a different door; school announces active shooter on campus
Arredondo attempts to test numerous keys on a different door, according to law enforcement body-camera footage.
Meanwhile, Robb Elementary officials announce on Facebook that there is an active shooter on campus.
Onlookers and parents beg for action
At some point during the standoff, onlookers beg police to charge the school, according to The Associated Press. Parents try to break windows and are not allowed to immediately be reunited with their children.
12:19 p.m.
Another student calls 911
A student in Room 111 calls 911 and hangs up when another student tells her to.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:20 p.m.
A fourth ballistic shield is brought to the school
School surveillance footage shows a fourth ballistic shield being taken through the back door.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:21 p.m.
Gunman fires again
The gunman fires again. Authorities say he was believed to be at the classroom’s door. On a 911 call from a student, three gunshots can be heard.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:24 p.m.
Arredondo attempts to communicate with suspect
Law enforcement body-camera footage shows Arredondo attempting to communicate with the shooter.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety records
12:26 p.m.
Law enforcement officers aware that a teacher has been shot
Law enforcement body-camera footage shows law enforcement officers indicating that they are aware a teacher has been shot in the classroom.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:32 p.m.
Search for keys continues
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:35 p.m.
An officer with a forcible-entry tool enters school
School surveillance footage shows an officer entering the back door with a Halligan or similar tool.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:36 p.m.
Student in room 111 calls back
The same student calls back for 21 seconds and is told to stay on the line quietly.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:38 p.m.
Arredondo again attempts to communicate with suspect
Law enforcement body-camera footage shows Arredondo once again attempting to communicate with the shooter.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:43 p.m.
Gunman shoots the door
The student tells 911 that the gunman shot the door.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:46 p.m.
Arredondo gives approval to enter
Arredondo gives his approval to enter the classroom. “If y’all are ready to do it, you do it,” he says, according to a transcript of police body-camera footage.
- Source: New York Times review of body-camera footage; DPS records
12:46 p.m.
“I can hear the police next door.”
— Student who called 911
Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:47 p.m.
“Please send the police now.”
— Student who called 911
Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:50 p.m.
Border Patrol kills gunman
Shots are heard on the student’s call. A Border Patrol Tactical Unit officer breaches the room using a janitor’s keys and kills the gunman.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
12:51 p.m.
Children are moved out of the room
From the student’s 911 call, it sounds like officers are moving children out of the room. At that time, the student makes it outside, and the call cuts out.
- Source: Texas Department of Public Safety
1:06 p.m.
Police announce shooter is in custody
Uvalde police announce on Facebook that the shooter is in custody. Authorities recanted that information later.