Over 12 Students in Uvalde Were Alive During the Hour Before Police Entered Classroom – Opinion

A new New York Times report claims that Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas had more than a dozen students who were awake for nearly an hour before they received their education.

There were 33 children and 3 teachers in the path of the shooter, but police reportedly waited an hour- and-17-minutes before four officers entered the classrooms in question–despite 60 officers having arrived at the school, the report says.

Source: NYT

According to an anonymous source, investigators are trying to find out if any victims could have survived if they were given medical attention earlier. There is no doubt that many of the victims are still in critical need of medical attention and were alive at the time. One teacher perished in an ambulance. According to documents, three children were killed in nearby hospitals.

Also, the documents reveal that officers arrived with long guns. This means they had the necessary tools to kill the gunman. The Times points out that there might have been a decrease in deaths had the police responded faster. The Associated Press reports that the shooter was killed by Border Patrol and not local law enforcement.

Pete Arredondo, chief of Uvalde’s school district police is under scrutiny for his response to the shooting which left two teachers and 19 students dead.

Arredondo claimed that he forgot two radios and caused major communication difficulties between himself and authorities. Arrendondo defended his decision by saying that grabbing radios would be a waste and might not have worked at the school, based upon prior experience.

The Tribune has the following explanation:

One of Arredondo’s most consequential decisions was immediate. He left behind his campus radios and police within seconds of reaching the northeast corner of Robb Elementary at 11:35 am.

Arredondo saw it as a logical choice. On the grounds of the elementary school, a lone armed killer was at large. It was all about every second. He didn’t want his hands to be tied to the gun and was ready to fire fast and accurately at any gunman he came across.

Arredondo gave the following accounts of the event in his phone interview. He also provided written responses and explanations through his lawyer.

He said he didn’t speak out sooner because he didn’t want to compound the community’s grief or cast blame at others.

According to NBC News, the chief now serves as a councilman for his city. He was elected before the shooting. However, he didn’t attend his first meeting this week.