The moment an 18-year old gunman opened fire on a Uvalde classroom was captured by body camera footage.
Police Chief Peter Arredondo was recorded standing outside the classroom at Robb Elementary, in Texas, trying to negotiate with Salvador Ramos.
He encouraged the teenager to talk with him, trying his best to assure him “this could all be peaceful”, and asked him to “put your gun down”.
He begged for more gunshots from the classroom, but was ignored.
‘Can you hear me sir?’ He asked. “Sir,” he said. Our goal is to not cause any harm.
Since the massacre on May 24, which left 21 people dead, angry parents and members of the community have demanded Arredondo be fired. Last month, he was put on administrative leave.
Don McLaughlin of Uvalde stated that Ramos had been contacted by an off-site negotiator, but they never returned the call.
Meanwhile, the Texas House investigative committee released a preliminary report Sunday revealing officials found ‘multiple systemic failures’ and poor leadership by law enforcement the day of the shooting.
Video shows Police Chief Peter Arredondo (left), was using his smartphone in Robb Elementary’s hallway, begging Salvador Ramos for help to end his attack
Arredondo received no reply. He continued, “Can you tell my name and anything I can help with please?” But, Ramos did not answer
Arredondo said to Ramos that ‘this might be peaceful’, and asked Ramos to “please put your firearm down” as he fired shots into the classroom.
A video of Arredondo speaking with Ramos from the hallway at school was released.
Arredondo didn’t realize that Ramos was barricading himself inside a classroom full of students during the initial communication attempt.
‘Let me know if there’s any kids in there or anything,’ Arredondo pleaded. “This could be peaceful.
The officer, met with no response continued: ‘Can you tell me your name, anything that can help please?’ But, Ramos did not answer.
The 911 dispatcher alerted the police about a student calling, and it was discovered that children and teachers had been taken hostage by the gunman.
Arredondo attempts to open the classroom door with a set keys but fails six minutes later.
The key is passed on to another officer. The scene is crowded with additional officers who appear to have more armored vehicles, but no action seems to be taking place.
Arredondo pleads with the shooter again after another round.
‘Can you hear me sir?’ He asked. “Sir,” he said. Our goal is to not cause any harm.
One person is heard saying “I know, I’m sure” and an officer responds: “That’s exactly what we are doing. We’re trying get him out.”
Police arrived at Ramos’ classroom and shot him. It took them around 30 more minutes.
Arredondo attempts to unlock the door of a classroom nearby with keys but is unsuccessful. Arredondo passes his keys to another officer, who manages to gain entry into the room.
Minutes later, another round of shots are fired, prompting Arredondo yet again to plead with the shooter: ‘Can you hear me sir? Sir, I can hear you. Please put down your firearm. Our goal is to not cause any other harm.
Police arrived in the school where Ramos was barricaded and were waiting for him to be killed. It took at most 30 more minutes.
Don McLaughlin, Mayor of Uvalde, released footage from his body camera during the mass shooting. This was just days after an Austin American Statesman video of the incident that lasted 82 minutes had been posted online by KVUE and the Austin American Statesman.
This video shows the confusion Uvalde police faced when Ramos entered Robb Elementary School’s classroom and started firing. It killed 19 students as well as two teachers.
Arredondo told officers on that day that they were now in an active shooter situation. They had been made aware that they would be dealing with a barricaded suspect. It forced them to exercise more caution as Ramos kept firing.
The footage begins with Officer Gazaway standing outside the building at around 12.04pm and slowly entering the building, where several other officers are waiting with their rifles drawn.
While some officers waited outside, others were waiting in the corridor at the school.
A new body cam footage has been released that shows how confused Uvalde police officers were at the Robb Elementary School shooting scene on May 24,
While some cops were seen outside chatting, others waited in the corridor with guns drawn down the hall.
The video shows Officer Gazaway moving back and forth, apparently searching for an instructor as Salvador Ramos (18) continues shooting.
The footage begins to fade around 12:08pm. It then returns moments later with more officers standing in the corridor, waiting to be told what to do.
Gazaway appears to be walking up and down the hallway for several minutes. He is apparently searching for someone who can give him direction.
The footage has no sound, and it’s unclear what the actors were trying to say.
After some officers had left their posts outside, more officers appeared to have gathered in the corridor at 12.19pm.
The blue checked shirt of one man was even worn with a ballistic vest, identifying him to be ‘Sheriff’
A man wearing a Texas Ranger vest continued his barking orders to the officers. But he soon left the building, talking on his cell phone.
At 12.21 PM, a large number of officers were seen running along the corridor towards classrooms 112 and 112, from where Ramos was firing.
Video ends when Border Patrol agents enter the classrooms and shoot Ramos.
Both state and community police officers have harshly criticised Pete Arredondo’s leadership. Michael Brown is a Uvalde resident who had a Robb Elementary student. He was seen with signs demanding that the police be held accountable on Sunday
New bodycam footage was released amid the publication of a report of the Texas House of Representatives, which contains 77 pages. It holds federal and state cops responsible for Uvalde’s massacre. Vincent Salazar is the grandfather of Layla Salazar and can be seen holding Sunday’s report.
This footage was taken amid the publication of a comprehensive 77-page Texas House of Representatives report that holds federal and state cops responsible for the Uvalde school shooting massacre.
This House investigation was the largest attempt to establish why Ramos’ death took police more than one hour to confront him.
Reports slammed’system failures’ and “egregious bad decision-making” by almost all the people in power at the time of the attack. It also noted how 376 police officers raced to the school, in an chaotic scene marred by lackluster leadership and insufficient urgency.
The report said that the Committee didn’t find “villains”, other than the attacker. We found systemic failures, poor decision-making and other serious problems.
“The lack of leadership may have led to loss of life. The injured patients waited more than an hour to get help and then the attacker kept firing his weapon sporadically.
Additionally, it claimed that the 149 US Border Patrol Agents and the 91 US State Police officers on the spot should have contributed to the unfolding chaos.
The report stated that there was an overall lackadaisical attitude by the law enforcement on the scene. “Many were misled and relying on inaccurate information. Others had sufficient information to make an informed decision.
According to the report, the bottom line is that law enforcement officers failed to follow their active-shooter training and failed to prioritise the safety of innocent victims more than their own.
Don McLaughlin, the Mayor of Uvalde, stated in an email statement that Lieutenant Mariano Pargas had been placed on administrative leave by the city. He was acting as the City Policy Chief on the Day of the Shooting.
Tina Quintanilla Taylor raises her voice after trying to pose a question at the Texas House Investigative Committee at a press conference following the release of its complete report about the Robb Elementary School shootings on Sunday
Officials from the state police strongly criticized Arredondo’s leadership as the chief of six-man school district police forces, which the state police claimed was in charge of the situation.
The report also noted that hundreds more officers were from better-trained and better-equipped agencies than the school’s police force, which was a major reason for their failure.
The report noted that, ‘despite an apparent atmosphere of chaos and the fact that there was no command post or command post available, rank officers from other responding agencies never approached (Arredondo), or anyone else deemed to be in command to highlight the absence or need for one or provide specific assistance.
“These local officials were certainly not the only ones who could provide leadership during this tragedy.
“Hundreds of law enforcement officers responded quickly to the call, many with better training and more equipment than school police.
Salvador Ramos (18), (pictured) killed two teachers and 19 students while police held back more than an hour in the Uvalde massacre of May 24.
The report stated that “In this crisis no responder took the initiative to create an incident command station,”
“Despite the obvious chaos in the air, Uvalde CISD Chief of Police and other top ranking officers did not approach him or any other commanding officer to complain about the absence of a command center or provide specific assistance.
Also, the report found Robb Elementary School had failed to follow basic safety protocol. These included not having enough keys which led to teachers frequently leaving unlocked doors or propped open by them.
According to the report, door and lock maintenance was neglected by the school district.
The report stated that the lock mechanism in Room 111 had been widely reported to have been broken, however it wasn’t repaired.
According to the report, “The issue with the locking of the door was reported by school administrators but nobody placed an order for repairs.”
The school was also unable to connect to Wi-Fi at times, which led to poor usage of an app that alerted the school to lock down in case of emergency.
Teachers also often responded without urgency to lockdown notifications on the app because they were desensitized by its overuse in situations involving nearby border patrol activity.
Robb Elementary is about one hour drive from the US/Mexico border. Teachers are often notified of illegal migrants in pursuit by border patrol.
Between May and February there were 47 “lockdown” events at school, of which 90 percent involved border patrol activities.
They are expected to adhere to the guidelines set forth by Active Shooter Response Card officers. Officers at the scene were not able to complete many of its basic steps, including assuming command.
Uvalde’s school district uses an emergency notification app. It was found out that teachers did not take the protocol and app’s overuse due to border patrol problems.
The report also revealed that Ramos had provided warning signs that he could be dangerous and that no one took any action to correct them.
In one incident, Ramos sent someone a message on Instagram on April 2 saying ‘Are you still gonna remember me in 50 something days?’
The person replied, “Probably not.”
Ramos replied, “Hmm alright we will see in May,”
Also, he was obsessed with online gore and violence, uploading videos of suicides or beheadings to YouTube and harassing female friends who played his video game.
After threatening to harm a female colleague at Whataburger, he was fired.
Ramos’ violent behaviour was not reported and no red flags were raised.
Salvador Ramos text conversation with his friend, who suggested that he travel to Uvalde in the latter part of the summer. Ramos stated, “If it is before May 23, I’m not down” On May 24, he committed the massacre.
Ramos spoke with a German friend online and described how he shot his grandmother in the eye in real-time.
This report was the product of several investigations, one including the Justice Department’s.
According to a report by Texas State University tactical experts, a Uvalde officer could have stopped the gunman from entering the school with his AR-15 before the attacker entered.
Don McLaughlin, the Uvalde mayor has claimed that this never took place despite the contradictory statements and disputes surrounding the incident. McLaughlin accuses McLaughlin of trying to minimise the involvement of his troopers in the massacre and has criticized McLaughlin for requesting the report.
Steve McCraw from Texas DPS has rejected the police’s response.
Video footage showed how Ramos was held up in the classroom by police for nearly an hour, as they waited to be ordered out of the building by Peter Arredondo (Uvalde Consolidated Independent school District Police Chief).
Arredondo was put on leave following the shooting, before being fired.
In Uvalde, there have been increasing calls for the police to be held accountable since the shooting. Arredondo, the only known officer who was present at the site of the most violent school shooting in Texas’ history, is currently on leave.
Ramos can be heard firing shots from a classroom. Officers are seen running, checking their phones and using hand sanitizer.
Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo
One officer, whose daughter was in the classroom at that time, was observed being held back by other officers to prevent him from trying to save his child.
This video shows that it took police officers an entire 77 minutes just to get into Ramos’ classrooms. Ramos then loaded over 100 rounds on his victims.
Ramos arrived at the school at 11.33 am and was not shot until 12.50pm.
Border Patrol agents arrived at the scene and stopped him.
This video is shot from Robb Elementary school’s parking lot. It starts at 11.28 AM.
This video captures Ramos pushing his car into a corner before crashing into something in the distance. From the site of the collision, a cloud of dusty smoke appears.
Ramos shoots at two men who are not his, and they approach Ramos’ car.
Two men ran for their lives across the street and towards Robb Elementary School.
A teacher can be heard saying to a 911 operator, “I don’t see him.” He is not visible to me. Camera switches to Robb Elementary School. She says, “The kids are running.” Oh, my God.
As she sobs in desperate despair, her voice cracks and she shouts “Oh my god!”
Ramos starts firing random rounds from his car at school shortly after.
According to the teacher, students are told to “get in their rooms and get out of them.”
Ramos enters the school calmly, armed with an AR-15.
In a matter of seconds, the camera will switch to video surveillance from Robb Elementary School.
Ramos is entering an empty hallway when the light shines through his doorway.
As if to verify that he is on the right path, he stops at one corner before moving to another.
The gun is dropped by his side as he starts to fade down a long corridor. He then brushes his long hair to get to the classrooms 112 and 111 where the massacre occurred.
A young boy enters the frame from the background. The boy turns around and remains frozen for just a moment. Then, he hears loud gunfire.
It is possible to see him running, apparently with his arms flailing.
On the screen, a message says: “The gunman fires an AR-15 within 2 classrooms. It takes two and a quarter minutes.”
Three minutes later the police arrive at the scene. The three officers arriving on the scene are uniformed in one and two-in-plain clothes in another. They charge towards the class, before sitting down in the hallway while four other officers remain back.
They talk to one another as the four officers who sat back chatted. The conversation between them is almost inaudible.
Then, three loud bangs can be heard.
They hear the gunfire and the uniformed officers retreat. The plain-clothed officer, on the other hand, scurries to safety behind a wall.
He was even seen taking out his smartphone from his pocket in order to see the current time. Statesman says that other people sent messages as well and looked at floor plans, while the precious seconds ticked away.
After the initial officers tried to enter Ramos’s territory, heavy reinforcements came in. The hallway was filled with cops carrying long guns, tactical gear, and a shield ballistic. They keep a safe distance away from Ramos.
One officer places the shield in a safe place against a wall.
Just over 30 minutes after the 911 call was made, additional officers in combat gear and armed with ballistic shields and long guns, began to pour into the corridor. Ramos is not harmed.
Ramos goes on shooting four additional rounds after arriving at school 48 minutes earlier. The assembled law enforcement officers are not initially impressed. This is the second time that “shots were fired” has been repeated.
As officers begin to move down the hall towards Ramos, there is still more unintelligible conversation.
He appears to be in civilian clothing including shorts, and wearing a bullet proof vest. The man is carrying a gun.
He is the cover for more armored officers.
Officer in civilian uniform, with a helmet and bulletproof vest receives hand sanitizer at a dispenser.
After more than 30 minutes, additional officers were seen entering the building carrying ballistic shields or rifles. They pointed their guns down the hall to Ramos’ classrooms.
Finally officers break into the classroom to engage Ramos and quickly kill him. The nightmare ended exactly 77 minutes later.