Gunman emerged from classroom closet firing at Border Patrol agents, official says

One day after an elementary school shooter killed 21 people in a small Texas town this week, Gov. Greg Abbott appeared before a grieving nation to explain how it happened, delivering an authoritative account of law enforcement heroes facing down evil and preventing the additional loss of life with quick action.

But much of that story wasn’t true.

The 18-year-old suspect in the Uvalde massacre emerged from a classroom closet firing as Border Patrol tactical agents entered the room behind a ballistic shield, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share preliminary details of the investigation.

The official said an off-duty Border Patrol tactical agent from the agency’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC, was the first to arrive outside the classroom around 12:15 p.m. Local police and other officers assembled in the hallway told the agent that the shooter was barricaded inside the classroom, which the agent described as “quiet,” according to the official.

UVALDE, Tex. — Police responding to a gunman at an elementary school here made the calamitous choice not to pursue him into a classroom where students were trapped, some officers even waiting outside in a hallway while panicked children inside repeatedly called 911 pleading for help, a top Texas official said Friday.

The commander of the law enforcement response during Tuesday’s massacre at Robb Elementary School had incorrectly determined that the gunman was no longer an active shooter and that no more children were at risk, said Steven C. McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Safety.

UVALDE, Tex. — As police officers stood outside a locked fourth-grade classroom, a student trapped inside with the man shooting at her classmates dialed 911.

She was in Room 112, she whispered to the dispatcher. Seven minutes later, she called again. There were multiple students dead, she said. The child hung up and called several more times, her words growing increasingly desperate and grim.

Former president Donald Trump delivered a full-throated defense of gun rights at the NRA convention, rejected efforts at tighter gun laws and argued that if the United States can spend $40 billion on Ukraine, it can harden security at schools.

Trump pressed ahead with his appearance at the convention days after a school massacre in Uvalde that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. Other Republican politicians decided against participating, such as Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tex.), or provided prerecorded messages, such as Gov. Greg Abbott (R). Trump took a tacit swipe at them.

At a memorial for the victims on Uvalde’s Main Street, Amanda Flores said she knew all 21 victims.

Some were close family friends while others were friends of her grandchildren, one of whom was at Robb Elementary School on the day of the shooting.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) met with FBI officials Friday after his calls for the bureau to probe multiple aspects of the mass shooting in Uvalde, as key details remain unclear amid growing public anger over the response from law enforcement.

Castro spoke to The Washington Post after another tumultuous briefing by the Texas Department of Public Safety on Friday, in which officials acknowledged responding law enforcement officials “made the wrong decision” by not moving to subdue the gunman sooner.

In Uvalde’s town square, where 21 crosses have been placed to memorialize those who died at Robb Elementary School, family members and friends of the victims said Friday that they are angry over the police response.

As he stood in front a cross honoring his great-granddaughter, Alexandria Rubio, Ruben Montemayor Mata said he was outside the school during the gunman’s rampage and is seething over what he saw.