Report: As police waited, children inside Texas school called 911 begging for help

Texas officials admitted Friday that cops made the “wrong decision” by not immediately storming the classroom where Uvalde gunman Salvador Ramos was holed up—even as they were getting multiple 911 calls from children desperately begging for help.

Officials shared details of the 911 calls from children still alive at the time inside the classrooms where the gunman had barricaded himself.

According to the most recent timeline of the shooting, police entered the school around 11:35 a.m., just two minutes after the gunman. At 12:03 p.m.—more than 25 minutes after the first cops arrived, and more than 30 minutes after a 911 call about an armed man crashing his truck and running towards the school—someone inside the school called for help, whispering that she was in room 112.

At 12:10 p.m., that person called again to say that “multiple” people had been killed. At 12:16, she called again to say “eight to nine students” were still alive.

Several more calls were made pleading for help, including a call at 12:47 p.m. in which someone urged dispatchers to “please send the police now.” It wasn’t until 12:50 p.m. that tactical units stormed the classroom, killing Ramos.

“Ultimately, this is tragic. What do you tell the parents of 19 kids or the families of two teachers?” McCraw said. “We’re not here to defend what happened. We’re here to report the facts.”

“There were 19 officers in there,” said McCraw. “In fact, there were plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done, with one exception: The incident commander inside believed they needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point.”

“Of course, it wasn’t the right decision.” Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a news conference, choking back tears. “It was the wrong decision. Period.”

With 19 officers, McCraw said, there were “plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done.” But the commander inside — Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde Consolidated School District chief of police — decided the team needed more equipment and officers to enter the classroom where the shooter was holed up. He said the team did not move to take out the gunman until a full Border Patrol tactical unit arrived.

Nineteen children and two teachers died in the massacre.