An almost unbearable video, revealed this Tuesday by local media, shows how the police waited 74 minutes before intervening against a gunman who, on May 24, killed 19 children and two teachers in a Texas school.
The footage, shot by surveillance cameras, a cell phone and an officer’s onboard camera, was posted online by the daily. Austin American statesman and the television channel KVUE.
Claimed by the relatives of the victims but never made public by the authorities, they are overwhelming for the police, whose actions have been described as “an absolute failure” by the director of Texas Public Health, Steven McCraw.
The film opens with the arrival of the shooter, who crashes his vehicle near Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Two people come to his aid and are met by gunfire. As they run off, we see him moving towards the establishment.
The development of the drama, minute by minute
The film is accompanied by an excerpt from the emergency call made by an employee at 11:32 am, who yells at the children to “go to your classes”.
At 11:33 a.m., the shooter almost nonchalantly walks into the school, even slipping a strand of hair behind his ear as he holds his assault rifle pointed at the ground. Then a boy appears in a corner of the corridor, he is about to follow him, when he sees him pointing his gun into a room and opening fire.
From there, the detonations follow one another rapidly for three minutes, until the arrival of the first police officers at 11:36 am.
There are at least eight, with guns and bulletproof vests. He walks into the class first, explosions sound, and backs up to the end of the hall. Thirty-six minutes later, they are still in the same place, but they have been joined by other police officers equipped with rifles, bulletproof shields and sometimes even helmets.
There are at least twenty, from different units, but they still haven’t entered the classroom. Disturbing detail, at 12:30 p.m., one of them uses hydroalcoholic gel from a dispenser hanging on the wall.
At 12:50 shots ring out. A team eventually took down the shooter. The movie stops. Shannon Watts, founder of the organization Moms Demand Action, which campaigns for stricter gun regulations, commented on Twitter.
“Police in full gear wait in the hallway of the school and even stop for hand sanitizer while children and teachers are being killed!” he chokes up, asking for more transparency about police failures.
Several investigations have been opened, in particular by the Ministry of Justice, but their conclusions have not yet been issued.
Source: BFM TV
