UVALDE, Texas — A scathing Justice Department report released Thursday on the failure of law enforcement during the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, provides a minute-by-minute account of missteps by police on the scene.
Heavily armed officers did not kill the 18-year-old gunman until about 77 minutes after the first officers arrived at the school. During that time, terrified students in classrooms called 911 and parents begged officers to enter. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed during the May 24, 2022, massacre in the rural South Texas town.
An earlier investigation by Texas lawmakers also constructed a timeline of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.
Here is the Justice Department’s reconstruction of the shooting, which is similar to the timelines previously offered by authorities:
11:21 a.m. – The gunman, Salvador Ramos, shoots and wounds his grandmother in their home and then sends a message to an acquaintance saying what he did and that he plans to “shoot up an elementary school.”
11:28 a.m. – The gunman crashes a vehicle he stole from his grandparents’ home into a ditch about 300 feet from Robb Elementary School.
11:33 a.m. — He enters the school through a closed but unlocked door, walks to classrooms 111 and 112 and opens fire on their doors from the hallway. The two classrooms are connected by an interior door.
11:36 a.m. — The first responding officers enter the school. The shooter is now shooting into the two fourth-grade classrooms. Two officers running towards the classrooms are hit by shrapnel and retreat.
11:38 a.m. — The first request to activate the Uvalde SWAT team is made over the radio.
11:39 a.m. — A city police officer makes the first official request for shields. Officers in the hallway begin treating the shooter as a barricaded subject rather than an active shooter.
11:40 a.m. to 12:21 p.m. — More officers from multiple law enforcement agencies arrive. According to the report, during these 41 minutes there was “much confusion, miscommunication, a lack of urgency and a lack of command and control.”
12:21 PM — The gunman fires four additional shots into the classrooms. At this point the officers move into formation outside the classroom doors, but do not enter. Officers then test the keys to another door while searching for additional keys and breaking tools.
12:48 p.m. — Officers open the door to room 111, which was likely unlocked. It takes a minute or more for the officers to enter the room and engage the shooter.
12:50 p.m. — The gunman is fatally shot by officers after emerging from a closet while opening fire.