Students trapped inside the two Robb Elementary School classrooms with the Uvalde shooter made multiple 9-1-1 calls over the course of 45 minutes in a plea for police — who had already arrived at the school but not yet stopped the shooter — to save them.
Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw provided a detailed breakdown of what happened the day an 18-year-old showed up at the school, killing 19 kids and two teachers. It’s unclear whether the shooter entered room 111 or 112, as they are connected.
“A caller identified, I will not say her name, but she was in room 112 called 9-1-1 at 12:03,” the DPS director told media. “The duration of the call was one minute, twenty-three seconds. She identified herself, whispered she’s in room 112.”
“At 12:10 she called back and room 112 advisor, multiple dead,” he added. “12:13 again she called on the phone. Again at 12:16 she called back and said 8-9 students alive.”
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DPS Director then noted that at 12:19 a student in the room next door, room 111, called and hung up after another student told her to. “At 12:21 you can hear on the 9-1-1 call that 3 shots were fired,” McCraw explained, but doesn’t specify which room the call came from. “At 12:36 9-1-1 call that lasted for 21 seconds,” he added.
“The initial caller called back, student child, called back and was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. She told 9-1-1 that he shot the door.” It is believed that, given this information, the child was also inside the room.
McCraw said two more calls came from a child at 12:43 and 12:47. The child pleaded for dispatchers to send police immediately. “At 12:46 she said that she could hear the police next door. At 12:50 shots are fired they can be heard on the 9-1-1 call. At 12:51 it’s very loud and sounds like officers are moving children out of the room. At that time, the first child that called was outside before the call cuts off,” said the official.
McCraw also said Friday that police officers were wrong to wait for tactical backup before breaching Robb Elementary School to take down the active shooter. He indicated that the commander on-scene treated the situation as a barricaded suspect situation, rather than an active shooter situation — which would call for a different protocol.
It’s unclear why, given the multiple 9-1-1 calls from inside the classroom, it wasn’t treated as an active shooter situation.