UVALDE, Texas — Two Uvalde City police officers gave a fleeting opportunity to shoot a gunman outside Robb Elementary School before he went on to kill 21 people inside the school, a senior sheriff’s deputy told the New York Times,
That would mean a second missed opportunity for authorities to stop Salvador Ramos before May 24 killed 19 children and two teachers inside the school. Officials said a school district police overtook Ramos without seeing him in the school’s parking lot.
Ricardo Rios, chief deputy for nearby Zavala County, told the newspaper that unidentified officers, one of whom had an AR-15-style rifle, said they feared killing children playing in the line of fire outside the school. Is.
Rios said the officers’ chance to stop Ramos passed quickly, perhaps within seconds.
Messages from the Associated Press to Rios and the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office have not been returned. Rios did not immediately return a request for comment to NBC News. Zavala County Sheriff’s officers responded to the shooting in support of Uvalde and Uvalde County officials.
Rios said he had shared the information with a special Test House committee investigating the school massacre.
Uvalde Police Officer agreed to speak to the committee on Friday According to a Republican lawmaker investigating the investigation, who began publicly questioning why officials were not cooperating sooner.
“It took a little longer than we initially thought,” State Rep. Dustin Burroughs said.
On Thursday, Burroughs indicated impatience with the Uvalde police, tweeting that the majority had fully cooperated with their investigation “to help determine the facts” and that they did not understand what the city police were doing. The force “why wouldn’t want that.” He did not say which members of the department would meet with the committee, which is set to continue questioning witnesses about Monday’s attack in Uvalde. 19 students and two teachers.
Uvalde police did not respond to messages from AP or NBC News seeking comment.
Weeks after one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, law enforcement officers have stopped providing updates about what they have learned about the shooting and police response. His silence after the officers were given conflicting and incorrect accounts In the days following the shooting, they sometimes withdraw hours after making statements.
Officials have also not released the records sought under public information laws to media outlets, including the Associated Press, often citing widespread exemptions and ongoing investigations. It has raised concerns about whether such records will be released, Even the families of the victims,
The State House Committee has so far interviewed more than a dozen witnesses behind closed doors, including state police, school staff and school district police. The list of witnesses provided so far by the committee does not include Peter ArredondoUvalde School District Police Chief, who has faced criticism on his actions during the attack
Burroughs defended the committee that interviewed witnesses privately and has so far not disclosed its findings, saying its members want an accurate account before releasing the report.
“One person’s truth may differ from another person’s truth,” Burroughs said Friday.
Since the shooting, Republican leaders in Texas have called for more mental health funding, but not new gun restrictions. Officials say the 18-year-old gunman used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. the police did not gunman face out of school for more than an hour, even as a victim parent Asked the officers to go inside.