The massacre at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers died at the hands of a single armed person, has left a community in mourning and in search of answers for the action of the police, which took 77 minutes to neutralize the threat.
Almost a month after the tragedy, this is what we know about how one of the worst school massacres in the country's history unfolded.
11:00 am
The attacker writes three messages on Facebook's private messaging app to a teenager in Germany that he met online.
He first tells her that he is going to kill his grandmother, then tells her that he already did it, and finally writes that he is going to shoot up a school, without specifying which one.
Shortly after, her grandmother manages to cross the street and asks for help.
She is transported to a hospital by helicopter with a gunshot wound to her face.
She is still in recovery.
11:28 a.m.
The killer crashes his truck into a ditch next to Robb Elementary School.
He gets out of the car armed with a rifle and carrying ammunition in a vest.
He shoots two people outside a funeral home four times, hitting no one, and walks to school.
The van used by the Uvalde, Texas, killer to get to Robb Elementary School, on May 24, 2022. Reuters
11:29 a.m.
A teacher leaves the school through a back door on the west side.
She heads to her car for food and on the way back she sees the wrecked truck and the attacker heading towards the elementary school, armed with a rifle.
He calls 911 and tells them what he just saw.
She enters the school and removes the stone that she had put up to keep the door open.
She closes the door behind her, but it doesn't lock, something she was unaware of at the time, Steve McGraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, explained June 21.
11:30 a.m.
The police receive the first reports of the 911 on the attacker in the vicinity of the school and the funeral home.
Parents of children killed in a school in Texas demand responsibilities from the authorities
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11:33 a.m.
The killer enters the school through the door that was not locked, apparently because it could only be locked from the outside.
11:35 a.m.
Three Uvalde police officers enter the school through the same door as the attacker, who shoots at them.
Four more agents enter the building.
Police run near Robb Elementary School after a shooting Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.AP
11:37 a.m.
More shots ring out, at least 16 rounds.
More agents arrive on the scene.
11:40 a.m.
Security cameras at the school capture an officer saying "we believe the suspect has barricaded himself in one of the offices," according to McGraw.
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11:43 a.m.
The school reports in a Facebook post that the campus is closed due to "shots fired in the area."
11:48 a.m.
Agent Rubén Ruiz of the Uvalde school district, the husband of one of the teachers, enters the school through the door on the west side and tells several officers: "He told me that she is injured," referring to his wife, according to records. on body camera footage.
11:50 a.m.
A Uvalde police officer tells another officer, "The boss is in there, he's in charge now, wait a minute," referring to Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
11:52 a.m.
19 minutes have passed since the attacker entered.
The first ballistic shield arrives.
The Uvalde police had weapons when they decided to wait to intervene in the school
June 21, 202200:27
11:54 a.m.
The community gathers outside the main entrance and begins to demand that the police do something.
An agent inside the school says the attacker is "in room 111 or 112, but the boss is making contact with him. No one has contacted him."
11:56 a.m.
"Our children, that's what worries us," says a mother, as can be heard in a video that is being broadcast live.
“Our children are there, man!
My son is right there!” she adds.
11:58 a.m.
An officer pushes a man who is on the phone outside the school.
He increases the tension with the parents.
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June 16, 202200:41
12:03 p.m.
Half an hour has passed since the shooting began.
There are 19 officers in the hallway, according to McGraw.
A girl calls 911 and whispers that she is in room 112. A second ballistic shield arrives.
[Police knew there were children still alive in the classroom with the killer but did not act. This is how the head of the operation in Uvalde justifies it]
12:05 p.m.
Evacuate students and staff who were locked in the cafeteria.
12:06 p.m.
Students escape from another classroom through a window.
Children escape from a classroom at Robb de Uvalde School through a window, on May 24, 2022.Pete Luna/Uvalde Leader-News/Reuters
12:10 p.m.
The same girl calls 911 again and says that there are several dead in the room.
The first Border Patrol agents arrive.
12:11 p.m.
Arredondo requests a master key to be able to enter the room.
12:14 p.m.
Arredondo turns instructions for a sniper to climb to the roof on the east side.
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12:15 p.m.
More Border Patrol agents arrive with shields and tactical gear.
[This border patrolman's wife sent him a message from the Uvalde school: “Help. Love you". He came to rescue her]
12:16 p.m.
The girl calls 911 again and says there are eight or nine students still alive.
"I just need a key," Arredondo says, according to body camera video.
12:17 p.m.
The school district is reporting on Facebook that there was a shooting at Robb School.
12:19 p.m.
Another girl calls 911 but hangs up when another student asks her to.
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12:21 p.m.
Agents hear more gunshots in the living room.
12:24 p.m.
Arredondo tries to communicate with the attacker in Spanish and English from the corridor.
12:26 p.m.
Several students exit the school through a door on the east side.
12:27 p.m.
"People are going to wonder why we're taking so long. We're trying to preserve the rest of the lives," Arredondo is heard saying.
[“They really loved each other”: two 10-year-old boys shot from Uvalde are buried side by side to honor their love]
12:30 pm
Arredondo says that the door to the room is closed.
McGraw denies it weeks later and assures that they did not even try to open the door.
12:35 p.m.
An hour has passed since the massacre began.
The agents are given a tool to open the door called a
hooligan.
12:36 p.m.
The first girl who called 911 speaks again.
She says the attacker locked the door.
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12:40 p.m.
The school says the rest of the children were taken to a civic center in the center of town.
12:43 p.m.
The girl who is still on the 911 line asks for the police to enter the room.
12:46 p.m.
Arredondo asks the agents to prepare to enter and to try to distract him through the window.
[This is how the police chief of Uvalde justifies his delay in neutralizing the murderer]
12:47 p.m.
The girl at 911 asks again for the police to enter.
12:50 p.m.
The Border Patrol tactical unit enters the room using the keys the janitor brought.
The killer is shot in room 111. The "rescue operation" begins.
1:06 p.m.
The police report that the murderer was killed.