What happened between the moment Salvador Ramos entered the school to carry out his massacre, and the moment he was neutralized?
After the shock of Tuesday's massacre, the United States is asking the question.
The exact sequence of the Uvalde massacre in Texas, and the role of the police in the tragedy, are at the heart of the questions this Thursday - certain witnesses outside the school denouncing the passivity of the police.
"There were at least 40 officers armed to the teeth but they didn't do anything until it was too late," Jacinto Cazares, father of 10-year-old Jacklyn Cazares, killed in the incident, told ABC. massacre at Robb Elementary School in the Texas town.
Daniel Myers, a 72-year-old pastor, had arrived with his wife Matilda outside the school about 30 minutes after the shooter entered the school.
He described to AFP how the police waited in the absence of a specialized unit to storm, and how the parents attending the scene were "desperate".
“They were ready to go back (to the establishment).
One of the relatives said:
I was military, just give me a gun, I will go.
I will not hesitate.
I'll go.
»
Forty minutes of horror
Law enforcement said on Wednesday that they had tried to prevent Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old shooter, from entering the school.
But, after an exchange of gunfire, he managed to barricade himself in a classroom.
This is where he killed 19 children, but also two teachers.
Read alsoUvalde killing in Texas: Xavier, Jayce, Eva, Uziyah ... who are the victims of the shooting?
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw told CNN that Salvador Ramos remained inside the school for about 40 minutes before police managed to shoot him.
Border police chief Raul Ortiz, whose officers were on site, assured him that the latter "did not hesitate".
“They came up with a plan.
They walked into the classroom and they solved this as quickly as they could,” he also told CNN.
In addition to the 21 killed, 17 people were injured, including three police officers.
In the United States, school shootings are a recurring scourge that successive governments have so far been powerless to stem.
The debate on gun regulation in the country is almost on hold, given the lack of hope that Congress will pass an ambitious national law on the issue.