There was a new post on Jun 3, 2022.
The Uvalde school police chief didn't have a police radio with him as he gave orders to wait for additional units to respond to the scene of the school shooting.
There are wooden crosses at the memorial for the victims of the mass shooting. The photo was taken by Alex Wong.
Uvalde United Independent School District Chief Pete Arredondo was without a radio during the incident according to an unnamed Texas Department of Public Safety official.
A law enforcement official told the New York Times that Arredondo used a cell phone to call the police, ordering the school to be surrounded and requesting more bullets.
According to the Times, Arredondo decided to wait for the tactical units after two officers were wounded in the school shooting.
The officers who entered the classroom that Ramos had barricaded himself in were not a formal team, but included Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and a sheriff's deputy who were tired of waiting in the hallway, according to the Times.
The group obtained keys to the classroom from a janitor and continued to work despite being told not to.
The Texas Department of Public Safety told Forbes that it is committed to working with multiple law enforcement agencies to get the answers they seek.
The 38th District Attorney's office and the Department of Justice didn't respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
According to a transcript of the call, a 10-year-old student said that his teacher was dead and that he didn't want to die. The Times reports that the student said this 37 minutes after Ramos arrived at the school.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has not answered why Arredondo did not classify the school as facing an active shooter situation, even as children and teachers from inside called for help.
Reports that Arredondo did not have a radio came a day after Texas State Sen. The Uvalde Police have faced intense criticism for leaving Ramos alone inside the school for nearly 80 minutes, a decision that appears to clash with normal active-shooter tactics. While law enforcement held back, parents begged them to go inside and rescue their children, and some were pinned down and arrested for interfering with the police investigation.
The school police chief didn't know about the Uvalde shooting.
The police response to the Texas school shooting will be reviewed by the Department of Justice.
A student led the police to the scene of the shooting as they waited for tactical units to arrive.
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