Shooter barricaded himself in class for over an hour

Crystal Sanchez recalls the smiles of hundreds of children when they got free manicures and had their hair spray-painted during the “Día de los Niños” celebration at the Uvalde County Fairplex. Parents and residents across this small South Texas town spent hours solely honoring and celebrating their youngest.

Nearly a month later, the memories of that April 29 event feel distant for Sanchez, a 42-year-old mother of two who works at a local beauty school.

Grief and frustration have set in, and prayers have replaced the laughter that once echoed throughout the venue that sits on the edge of a town 80 miles west of San Antonio. Since Tuesday, residents have gathered daily to mourn after sorrow burst into what feels like nearly every household in this town of about 16,000 people.

Mass tragedy arrived in Uvalde this week when 19 children and two of their teachers were slaughtered by a gunman at Robb Elementary School, just two days before summer break. Children have always been at the center of the town’s pride and joy, dozens of residents say. And now, the losses of some of Uvalde’s brightest lights have become a source of heartbreak.

In downtown Uvalde, two of the longest federal highways in America – US Highway 83 and US 90 – intersect just like the feelings of many families this week. In one corner, portraits of high school seniors line the lawn outside City Hall. At another corner, flowers were placed next to white crosses bearing the names of each of Tuesday’s 21 victims along the town square’s fountain.

“We run in packs”

Wearing maroon-colored clothing in Uvalde is not unusual. But the amount of people wearing the city’s colors has multiplied over the week and taken on new meaning.

For decades, parents, abuelas and children have filled the stands at the Honey Bowl Stadium every fall to cheer for the Uvalde Coyotes during Friday night football games. After farmers and ranchers return home from the fields and many businesses shut down, residents routinely make their way to the stadium to watch one of their favorite pastimes.

As Uvalde attempts to find solace after Tuesday’s shooting, Marie Alice Ramos says there was nothing she could tell her friends or family that would make them feel better. Wearing her maroon T-shirt, she says, signaled something beyond words.

“We run in packs. Coyotes run in packs,” one of her cousins, Jessica Ahoyt, who was standing next to her said while embracing her daughter.

Ahoyt’s daughter then added, “once a Coyote, always a Coyote.”

Read the full story here:

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steven McCraw on Friday gave a detailed timeline of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

Here are the key moments he laid out (all times are in Central Standard Time):

11:27 a.m.: Video shows that an exterior door to Ross Elementary School that gunman Salvador Ramos entered was propped open by a teacher.

11:28 a.m: Ramos crashes a vehicle near the school into a ditch, gets out and begins firing upon two people who came outside to see the crash near a funeral home. Civilians are not struck by gunfire. The teacher runs to a room to get a phone, returns to the door, and the door remains open. 

11:30 a.m.: The first 911 call is made to Uvalde police reporting a car crash and a man with a gun outside the school.

11:30 a.m.: The US Marshals Service says it received a call from a Uvalde police officer requesting assistance. 

11:31 a.m.: The shooting suspect reaches the last row of cars in the school parking lot and shooting begins outside of the school. Patrol vehicles reach the funeral home, and a patrol car drives by shooter, who is hunkered down by another vehicle.

11:32 a.m.: The suspect fires at the school. 

11:33 a.m.: The suspect enters the school and begins shooting into a classroom. He shot more than 100 rounds.

11:35 a.m.: A total of seven officers are on the scene, and three officers enter the school, later followed by an additional team of three more officers and a sheriff. Two of the initial officers received grazing wounds from the suspect while the classroom door was closed.

11:37 a.m.: Sixteen rounds were fired from 11:37 a.m. to 11:44 a.m.

11:43 a.m.: Robb Elementary announces on Facebook that “Robb Elementary is under a Lockdown Status due to gunshots in the area.”

11:51 a.m.: More officers arrive.

12:03 p.m.: As many as 19 officers are in the school’s hallway. 

12:03 p.m.: A girl in room 112 of the school makes a 911 call.

12:10 p.m.: A 911 call is received from the same girl in room 112, reporting multiple people are dead.

12:13 p.m.: The girl makes another 911 call.

12:15 p.m.: A Border Patrol tactical unit team arrives on scene.

12:16 p.m.: The same girl makes another 911 call, reporting there were “eight to nine students alive.”

12:17 p.m.: Robb Elementary announces on Facebook: “There is an active shooter at Robb Elementary. Law enforcement is on site. Your cooperation is needed at this time by not visiting the campus. As soon as more information is gathered it will be shared. The rest of the district is under a Secure Status.”

12:19 p.m.: A different 911 call is received from a caller in room 111, but the caller hung up after another student told them to.

12:21 p.m.: Suspect fires again.

12:21 p.m.: Another 911 call is received, and three shots fired are heard. 

12:21 p.m.: Officers move down the hallway.

12:36 p.m.: There is a 911 call that lasts 21 seconds, with a student saying, “he shot the door.” 

12:43 and 12:47 p.m.: 911 caller says, “Please send police now.” 

12:46 p.m.: 911 caller can hear police next door.

12:50 p.m.: Shots are heard being fired over the 911 call.

12:50 p.m.: Law enforcement breach door using keys from janitor and kill suspect. 

12:51 p.m.: On 911 call, it sounds like officers are moving children out of the room.

As a parent, it can be gut-wrenching to discuss violence happening across the country with your kids, and even harder when the violence is happening in our schools. In the wake of the Texas school shooting, what questions are your school-aged children asking and how are they feeling?

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Authorities are under scrutiny over the conflicting information as well as the timeline provided for law enforcement’s response to Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

The most troubling issue has been the delay between when the gunman entered Robb Elementary School, soon followed by police officers, and when law enforcement confronted and shot the 18-year-old shooter. By then, the gunman had barricaded inside two adjoining classrooms with students and teachers.

Here are the latest details:

No confrontation with police: The gunman was not confronted by police before he entered the school, a Texas law enforcement official said Thursday, contradicting earlier comments from authorities and raising further questions about the police response to the massacre. A Texas Department of Public Safety representative on Wednesday said a school resource officer had “engaged” with the suspect before he went into the school.

More than an hour had passed between the first 911 call and when the shooter was killed: Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said Friday the first Uvalde police officers entered the school roughly two minutes after the gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos. While the shooter was inside two adjoining classrooms, a group of 19 officers stood outside in the hallway on instructions from the school district police chief, McCraw said. He added that the chief believed the “active shooter” situation was over and had become a “barricaded subject.” About 80 minutes after the shooter began his killing spree inside the school, a US Border Patrol officer shot and killed the shooter.

Parents are calling for accountability over the delayed response: Alfred Garza said he was outside the school as the shooting unfolded during which his daughter 10-year-old daughter, Amerie Jo, was killed. He said he’s in “disbelief” after learning that officers were in the school for more than an hour before they killed the shooter. “Somehow, someway, someone needs to answer for what was done,” Garza said. “Somebody has to be held accountable. Somebody was wrong.” Other parents begged police officers to go into the school, but they didn’t budge. Officers held parents behind yellow police tape, refusing to let them enter, several videos show.

“It was the wrong decision”: McCraw declined to say whether the Uvalde School District police chief who made the call for officers not to confront the shooter was on the scene during the shooting. “From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision,” he said of the call. “It was the wrong decision. Period.”

Texas governor declines to say whether the police chief should be fired: “As far as his employment status is concerned, that’s something that is beyond my control and I have no knowledge about,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday. Police chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo served as the incident commander and the person who made the decision for officers to wait and not breach the classroom where the gunman was located. Demanding a full accounting of what happened during the shooting, Abbott said, “Every act of all of those officials will be known and identified and explained to the public.”

Shooter hid in a classroom closet: While the shooter was barricaded inside of the classrooms, he hid in a closet and apparently waited for officers to go inside the room. He then proceeded to kick open the closet door and fired at the US Border Patrol agents when they entered the room, a source familiar with the situation told CNN. One agent was holding a shield followed by at least two others who engaged the shooter, according to a US Customs and Border Protection official.

Authorities and families of the victims have released the names of the 19 students and two teachers killed in Tuesday’s shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo, 10, put a smile on everyone’s face, her cousin, Austin Ayala, told the Washington Post, adding that her family is devastated.

Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares,10, was full of love and full of life, her father Jacinto Cazares told reporters. “She would do anything for anybody. And to me, she’s a little firecracker, man.”

Makenna Lee Elrod, 10, loved to play softball, do gymnastics and spend time with her family. “Her smile would light up a room,” Allison McCullough, Makenna’s aunt, told ABC News. McCullough described her niece as a natural leader who loved school and was “a light to all who knew her.”

Jose Flores Jr., 10, was one of the victims, his father Jose Flores Sr. told CNN. Flores said his son was in the fourth grade and loved baseball and video games. “He was always full of energy,” Flores said. “Ready to play till the night.” Flores also described his son as an amazing kid and big brother to his two siblings. 

Eliana “Ellie” Garcia, 9, was among those killed, her family told KHOU. Rogelio Lugo and Nelda Lugo, Eliana’s grandparents, told the Los Angeles Times she loved the movie “Encanto,” cheerleading and basketball, and dreamed of becoming a teacher.

Irma Garcia, a fourth-grade teacher, has been identified as a victim and confirmed through a GoFundMe page. A wife and mother to four children, she was “Sweet, kind, loving. Fun with the greatest personality,” the page said, adding, “She sacrificed herself protecting the kids in her classroom. She was a hero.” Her husband, Joe Garcia, died two days after the shooting, according to family members.

Uziyah Garcia, 10, has been identified as one of the victims, his family confirmed to CNN. He was in fourth grade, his aunt Nikki Cross told CNN. His uncle, Mitch Renfro, described Uziyah as a “great kid. Full of life. Loved anything with wheels, and video games.” He leaves behind two sisters. 

Amerie Jo Garza, 10, was identified by her father as one of the children killed. Angel Garza posted to Facebook early Wednesday: “My little love is now flying high with the angels above. Please don’t take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie Jo. Watch over your baby brother for me,” said the father.

Jayce Luevanos, 10, has been identified as one of the victims by CNN through a GoFundMe site set up to raise funds for funeral expenses and family needs. Jayce’s grandfather, Carmelo Quiroz, told USA Today, the Jayce and his mother lived with him. He said the 10-year-old was happy and loved. “He was our baby,” Quiroz said.

Xavier Lopez, 10, was identified as one of the victims, his mother Felicha Martinez confirmed to the Washington Post. “He was funny, never serious and his smile,” Martinez told the paper. 

Tess Marie Mata, 10, has been identified as one of the victims, her sister told the Washington Post. The fourth-grader loved TikTok dances, Ariana Grande and the Houston Astros, and was saving money so that the whole family could go to Disney World, her sister said.

Maranda Mathis, 11, was identified as one of the victims, according to Uvalde’s website. Leslie Ruiz, who identified herself as a friend of Mathis’ mother, told The Washington Post that Mathis was a bright girl who was fun and spunky. She said that Maranda’s best friend was her brother, and he was also at Robb Elementary when the shooting happened.

Eva Mireles, a fourth-grade teacher, was among those killed, her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, told CNN. She had been an educator for 17 years and in her off time enjoyed running, hiking, biking and spending time with her family, according to her profile on the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District website.

Alithia Ramirez, 10, was in fourth grade and loved to draw, her father, Ryan Ramirez, told CNN affiliate KSAT. He said she wanted to be an artist.

Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez was 10 years old, family members told CNN affiliate KHOU-TV. Her family told the news station that she was in the same classroom as her cousin Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares, who was also killed in the shooting.

Maite Rodriguez, 10, dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and had her heart set on attending Texas A&M in Corpus Christi, said her mother, Ana Rodriguez, on Facebook. Maite was “sweet, charismatic, loving, caring, loyal, free, ambitious, funny, silly, goal driven” and her best friend, she said. Ana Rodriguez wrote that her daughter loved animals and photography and learned to sew on her own by watching YouTube videos.

Lexi Rubio, 10, has been identified by her parents as one of the victims. Felix and Kimberly Rubio celebrated their daughter making the All-A honor roll and getting a good citizen award at Robb Elementary on Tuesday, shortly before the shooting. In a text message to CNN, Felix and Kimberly Rubio said, “She was kind, sweet, and appreciated life. She was going to be an all-star in softball and had a bright future whether it’s sports or academic. Please let the world know we miss our baby.”

Layla Salazar, 11, has been identified as one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting. Layla was an active child who loved to run, film TikTok videos and dance, her family told CNN. She also loved to swim in the river with her two big brothers.

Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10, enjoyed dancing and making TikTok videos, her mother Veronica Luevanos told CNN network partner, Univision. Jailah did not want to go to school Tuesday morning and asked to stay home, but Luevanos said she told her no.

Eliahana “Elijah” Cruz Torres, 10, has been identified as one of the victims, her aunt Leandra Vera told CNN. “Our baby gained her wings,” Vera said.

Rojelio Torres, 10, was also killed in the shooting, his aunt Precious Perez told CNN affiliate KSAT. The family waited nearly 12 hours to find out if her nephew was one of the victims, Perez said. “We are devastated and heartbroken,” she said. “Rojer was a very intelligent, hard-working and helpful person. He will be missed and never forgotten.” In a Facebook post, Torres’ mother Evadulia Orta posted a photo of her son and wrote “RIP to my son Rojelio Torres we love you and miss you.”

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters ahead of his team’s Friday game against the Cincinnati Reds that he intends to forgo the pregame US national anthem moving forward.

Speaking in the dugout of the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kapler said, “I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country.”

The 2021 National League Manager of the Year’s comments were accompanied by a written statement on his website sharing his thoughts after 19 children and two adults were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, by a lone, 18-year-old gunman.

Read more about Kapler’s remarks here:

Salvador Ramos told girls he would rape them, showed off a rifle he bought, and threatened to shoot up schools in livestreams on the social media app Yubo, according to several users who witnessed the threats in recent weeks. 

But those users —all teens — told CNN that they didn’t take him seriously until they saw the news that 18-year-old Ramos had gunned down 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, this week.  

Three users said they witnessed Ramos threaten to commit sexual violence or carry out school shootings on Yubo, an app that is used by tens of millions of young people around the world.  

The users all said they reported Ramos’ account to Yubo over the threats. But it appeared, they said, that Ramos was able to maintain a presence on the platform. CNN reviewed one Yubo direct message in which Ramos allegedly sent a user the $2,000 receipt for his online gun purchase from a Georgia-based firearm manufacturer.

“Guns are boring,” the user responded. “No,” Ramos apparently replied. 

In a statement to CNN, a Yubo spokesperson said “we are deeply saddened by this unspeakable loss and are fully cooperating with law enforcement on their investigation.” Yubo takes user safety seriously and is “investigating an account that has since been banned from the platform,” the spokesperson said, but declined to release any specific information about Ramos’ account. 

Use of Yubo skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, as teens trapped indoors turned to the app for a semblance of in-person interactions. The company says it has 60 million users around the world — 99% of whom are 25 and younger — and has trumpeted safety features including “second-by-second” monitoring of livestreams using artificial intelligence and human moderators.  

Despite those safety features, the users who spoke to CNN said Ramos made personal and graphic threats. During one livestream, Amanda Robbins, 19, said Ramos verbally threatened to break down her door and rape and murder her after she rebuffed his sexual advances. She said she witnessed Ramos threaten other girls with similar “acts of sexual assault and violence.” 

Robbins, who said she lives in California and only ever interacted with Ramos online, told CNN she reported him to Yubo several times and blocked his account, but continued seeing him in livestreams making lewd comments. 

“[Yubo] said if you see any behavior that’s not okay, they said to report it. But they’ve done nothing,” Robbins said. “That kid was allowed to be online and say this.”

Robbins and other users said they didn’t take Ramos’ comments seriously because troll-like behavior was commonplace on Yubo.  

Hannah, an 18-year-old Yubo user from Ontario, Canada, said she reported Ramos to Yubo in early April after he threatened to shoot up her school and rape and kill her and her mother during one livestream session. Hannah said Ramos was allowed back on the platform after a temporary ban.  

Hannah, who requested CNN withhold her last name to protect her privacy, said Ramos’ behavior turned increasingly brazen in the last week. In one livestream, she said, Ramos briefly turned his webcam to show a gun on his bed. 

The users said they didn’t make recordings of Ramos’ threats during the livestreams.

Yubo’s community guidelines tell users not to “threaten or intimidate” others, and ban harassment and bullying. Content that “promotes violence such as violent acts, guns, knives, or other weapons” is also banned. 

Just a week before the Uvalde attack, Yubo announced an expanded age verification process that involves users taking a photo of themselves and the app using artificial intelligence to estimate their age. The platform only allows people 13 and older to sign up, and doesn’t allow users 18 and older to interact with those under 18.

Yubo, which is based in Paris, has attracted controversy since it launched in 2015 under the name Yellow, with some local law enforcement officials warning about the possibility of abuse. Police have arrested men in Kentucky, New Jersey and Florida who allegedly used Yubo to meet or exchange sexually explicit messages with kids. Last month, Indiana police investigating the 2017 murder of two teenage girls said they were seeking information about a Yubo user who had solicited nude photos of underage girls on other social media platforms.   

Ramos’ disturbing social media interactions didn’t only take place on Yubo. One user, a girl from Germany who met Ramos on Yubo, said she had some troubling interactions with him via text and FaceTime. The 15-year-old said she received text messages from him shortly after he shot his grandmother and before his assault at the elementary school, as CNN previously reported. 

The girl said she thought any violent or strange comments Ramos made were in jest.  

But after the shooting, she said, “I added everything up and it made sense now… I was just too dumb to notice all the signals he was giving.” 

As a broken community tries to make sense of a massacre that took the lives of 19 young children and two teachers, authorities have offered shifting timelines of what happened inside the Uvalde, Texas, school.

On Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw laid out the most detailed breakdown the public has received to date about the horror that unfolded in Robb Elementary School on May 24 — and attempted to offer some answers about the way authorities responded.

Among the details we know now are: that a school officer drove right past the shooter — 18-year-old Salvador Ramos — while Ramos fired at the school; that as many as 19 officers were inside the school more than 45 minutes before the suspect was killed; that the school district police chief decided not to breach the classroom where the shooter was; and that a young girl from the class called 911 several times asking for police while authorities were right outside.

CNN created a timeline of events with information provided by McCraw, social media posts and other reporting that offers a look into what came before the shooting:

Read a minute-by-minute breakdown into the attack — and how authorities responded to it here.

The law enforcement official who made the decision not to breach the Uvalde elementary school classroom where a gunman was shooting children and teachers was the school district police chief, officials said Friday.

Col. Steven McCraw, Texas Department of Public Safety director, didn’t mention the official’s name at a news conference Friday, but said the official made the “wrong decision” to not engage the gunman sooner.

The Uvalde School District police chief is Pedro “Pete” Arredondo.

“A decision was made that this was a barricaded subject situation,” McCraw said of the incident commander’s “thought process” at the time.

At the same time, children inside Robb Elementary School classrooms 111 and 112 in Uvalde repeatedly called 911 and pleaded for help, he said. They were in the middle of the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision,” McCraw said of the supervisor’s call not to confront the shooter. “It was the wrong decision. Period. There’s no excuse for that.”

Pressed by reporters whether Arredondo was on the scene during the shooting, McCraw declined to comment.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday he is demanding a full accounting of what happened during the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, but said he had no say in whether the school district’s police chief should be fired.

The official has not spoken about the shooting publicly since two very brief press statements on the day of the tragedy. CNN attempted to reach Arredondo at his home on Friday, but there was no response.

Here’s what we know about the officer:

Read more here.