The massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last week scarred the nation, and adding to the tragedy was the jarring stream of the inconsistent facts, changing narratives and altering timelines presented by law enforcement officials.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the May 24 shooting at the school, which serves second through fourth graders, just days before the end of the academic year.
One week later, new details continue to surface as officials walk back initial claims in the evolving chronicle of the shooting. Here’s a list of some of those inconsistencies. Click through each claim to see the original claim and what authorities are saying now.
School door was shut before gunman walked in
Gunman wasn’t confronted by school officer
There was no school resource officer stationed at the school on May 24, McCraw said Friday. When the officer did arrive at the school, he inadvertently passed the shooter, who was crouched down next to a car.
Police said they “pinned down” gunman in a classroom; later said he was “barricaded”
McCraw said Friday that the commander on the scene said the situation had changed from an active shooter to a “barricaded subject” situation.
“The on-scene commander considered a barricaded subject and that there was time and that there were no more children at risk,” he said. “Obviously, you know, based upon the information we have, there were children in that classroom that were at risk and it was in fact still an active shooter situation and not a barricaded subject.”
McCraw said there were at least 19 officers on the scene about a half hour after the gunman entered the school.
“In fact, there was plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed they needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point. That’s why BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) was requested on the scene. As soon as they were there, they executed, they searched, they released a dynamic entry, and went in.”
McCraw said the classroom doors locked from the inside and noted, “hundreds of rounds were pumped in in four minutes near those two classrooms.”
“Any firing afterwards was sporadic and it was at the door. So the belief is that there may not be anybody living anymore, and that the subject is now trying to keep law enforcement at bay, or entice them to come in,” he said.
In a raw admission, McCraw called the decision not to breach the classroom sooner a mistake.
“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision,” he said.
time lapse
As part of the original claim, officials also said that after shooting his grandmother in her home, the shooter got into a car and crashed near a funeral home across the street from the school at 11:28 am
He then entered the west side of the school at 11:40 am, followed by local and school police four minutes later, Escalon with Texas DPS said on May 26.
McCraw shared a more detailed timeline Friday at a news conference.
The shooter entered the school at 11:33 am — earlier than previously stated — and started shooting at room 111 or 112, firing off more than 100 rounds based on audio evidence.
At 11:35, at least three Uvalde Police Department officers followed him into the school through the same door. By 12:03 pm, there were as many as 19 officers in the hallway.
The classroom was breached at 12:50 pm using keys from a janitor. The gunman was shot about 80 minutes after he had entered the school.
The gunman wasn’t wearing body armor
No responding officers rescued their own children
Albarado said he ran to the school after receiving a text from his wife, Trisha, a fourth grade teacher, saying: “There’s an active shooter. help. love you.”
I have helped clear out classrooms and evacuate students to safety. In the chaos I found his daughter from him, at a time he called a “big relief.”
www.nbcnews.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism