Experts have confirmed that the Robb Elementary School shooter in Uvalde, Texas was able to enter the school and then the classroom through unlocked doors, and police did nothing to interfere.
Early on in the investigation, state police claimed the gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, entered the school through an exterior door propped open by a teacher. However, days later, they retracted the statement, confirming that the teacher indeed closed the door, but it failed to lock.
Once inside, Ramos easily entered a classroom through a door that could not be locked from the inside. A teacher had also reported that the lock was broken, a maintenance issue that had been ignored.
Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, says Ramos “walked straight through” and massacred 19 students and two educators. Shortly before arriving at Robb Elementary School, he shot his grandmother in the face.
During Tuesday’s state Senate hearing, McCraw also testified that officers could have ended the situation approximately three minutes after Ramos entered the building. He also said they could have entered the classroom since it was unlocked but waited in a hallway for over an hour for a key and additional tactical gear. Officers made no attempt to open the door as they waited. McCraw slammed the Uvalde school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, for stopping officers from entering classrooms 111 and 112 during the standoff. Arredondo responded by saying he was unaware that he was in charge at the time, assuming someone higher up had taken control of the situation.
The lack of locked doors, prompt responses, and crisis plans cost lives, and there is plenty of blame to go around. When others pressed McCraw about why state officers didn’t take action on the scene, he said they were not allowed to.
Ramos likely chose the school because he was familiar with it, having attended fourth grade in the same classrooms where he murdered innocent children and teachers. He never made contact with officers that day. He would eventually be killed by a Border Patrol officer who entered the room he was in.
