How a teen with an assault-style rifle walked into an unlocked Texas elementary school and stayed nearly an hour — turning a classroom into a killing field as desperate parents begged officers outside to let them in — has emerged as a key horrifying question about the police response to the deadliest US school shooting in almost a decade.
Nineteen students and two teachers were slaughtered Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde before a federal tactical team killed the gunman. But there were no officers outside the school to try to stop Salvador Ramos, 18, Victor Escalon of the Texas Department of Public Safety said Thursday, contradicting authorities’ earlier claim Ramos was “engaged” by a school resource officer as he entered.