Texas Department of Public Safety and other local law enforcement officials have scheduled a briefing for noon ET Friday to provide additional answers on their response to Tuesday’s Texas school massacre.
The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas left 19 students and two educators dead and over a dozen others injured, including multiple officers. Three of those injured remained hospitalized at University Health in San Antonio Friday morning. A 10-year-old girl has recently been discharged, the hospital said.
On Thursday, officials revealed that police were on the scene for nearly an hour before gaining entry into a classroom where the gunman barricaded himself. Why it took officers over an hour to enter the room is a question officials have struggled to answer.
Officials have also given conflicting reports on whether the gunman was confronted when entering the school. On Thursday, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Victor Escalon told reporters that the gunman was able to enter the school through an unlocked door without being confronted.
Escalon also could not answer if a school resource officer on the scene was armed when first encountering the gunman.
In the nearly one hour it took for law enforcement to fatally wound the gunman, Escalon said officers were evacuating students and teachers from neighboring classrooms. Social media videos also show officers setting a perimeter around the school, holding back desperate parents from entering the school.
Escalon gave a timeline of events on Thursday, some of which ran counter to previous law enforcement reports:
11:28 a.m.: The gunman crashed his car in front of the school. After exiting the car, he fired on two bystanders who were near a funeral home across from the school.
11:30 a.m.: Police received their first 911 call. Following the 911 call, the gunman reportedly shot at the school.
11:40 a.m.: The gunman entered the school through what was believed to be an unlocked door.
11:44 a.m.: Police enter the school and fired at the suspect. Two officers were reportedly wounded in the exchange, forcing law enforcement to retreat. The gunman barricaded himself in a classroom, firing at students.
Roughly 12:40 p.m.: Border Patrol tactical agents, joined by local law enforcement, entered the classroom and fatally shot the gunman.
