Grief courses through Uvalde, Texas, as police response to the massacre is scrutinized

Judy Woodruff:

There were growing concerns today about how police responded to the deadly elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 people dead, 19 of them children.

Police indicated the school doors may have been unlocked when the gunman entered, and that he managed to stay inside for an hour before he was killed.

Amna Nawaz is in Uvalde. And she joins us now.

Amna, you have been talking to people there all day long. Tell us about the questions that are now being raised about the police response.

Amna Nawaz:

Judy, that's right.

Two days after the massacre here at Robb Elementary School, the pain is still very raw, still very real for so many here, those mourning the loss of those 19 children and two teachers.

But authorities now are beginning to fill in some of the details as their investigation continues about exactly what happened and when, even as there are a number of details they still cannot or will not answer.

As you mentioned, a couple of key details they revealed today for the first time. One, the biggest question has been, how did the gunman get into the school in the first place? Officials saying today it appears that the door was just unlocked. They have been sharing details that they're going through video and additional interviews as well. They say that detail could still change.

But, right now, that is what they believe to be true. The other thing they mentioned is, despite earlier reports that the gunman as he approached the school building was confronted by and engaged by a school resource officer, who would be an armed police officer assigned here at the school, officials today say that was not true.

There was no engagement, no confrontation outside of the school between the gunman and anyone else. In fact, officials would not even confirm that there was a school resource officer on site. So it appears, Judy, we now know, between the time that gunman shot his grandmother, crashed a vehicle near the school, and made his way into this elementary school, he did so almost completely unobstructed — Judy.

Judy Woodruff:

And so, Amna, after talking to so many people there, are you getting a sense of what the main focus is now of the police investigation of this?

Amna Nawaz:

Judy, the biggest question, of course, is motive, if the school was targeted, why it was targeted, why these children in particular.

But there are also really big questions about the timeline that remain, in particular, an hour-long gap authorities have not been able to fill in. They say the gunman entered the school at 11:40 a.m. and confirmed it was an hour later that the tactical teams arrived, were able to enter, engaged him, and ended up killing him.

Now, Border Patrol officials have confirmed to me there was a group of what they call a stack, so-called formation of four Border Patrol officers who ended up entering the building, engaging the gunman, and killing him. But there are a number of questions about why more and other law enforcement who officials say were on site four minutes after the gunman entered the building, why they didn't do more.

In fact, I spoke to some residents who live here around this school, one man in particular who shot video from outside the school with residents here yelling at police officers right after the shooting, begging them and pleading with them to go inside and do more after hearing those shots fired, a sense of frustration that we hear in that video.

And that man tells me he shot that video between 12:15 and 12:30, which means it was at least 35 minutes after the gunman had entered the building.

So there are a number of questions about why law enforcement didn't do more to go in sooner. And, if they had, could they have done more to save the lives of those 19 children and two teachers — Judy.

Judy Woodruff:

So disturbing to look at that video, which has now been circulating.

Amna Nawaz, who is in Uvalde.

And now we want to show you the tape, the reporting that Amna filed just moments ago.

Amna Nawaz:

In the early morning light of a new day, two rows of crosses stood in front of Robb Elementary School. Amid the mourning, there are new questions about how police responded to Tuesday's shooting.

In the chaotic scene that unfolded, parents and local residents stood outside, frustrated, as the minutes ticked by.

Person:

You are scared to get shot? I will go in without a gun.

Person:

Hey, we got guys going in to get kids, OK?

Amna Nawaz:

Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Victor Escalon today said the 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, appears to have walked into the school unobstructed at 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday.

Law enforcement, he says, was on the scene within four minutes, but that an hour elapsed before tactical teams arrived and killed him.

Victor Escalon, Texas Department of Public Safety: During this time that they're making those calls to bring in help to solve this problem and stop it immediately, they're also evacuating personnel.

When I say personnel, students, teachers. There's a lot going on, a lot — complex situation.

Amna Nawaz:

Despite multiple questions from reporters, Escalon would not confirm any additional timeline details.

Dr. Roy Guerrero was at the hospital when many of the children arrived.

Dr. Roy Guerrero, Uvalde Memorial Hospital:

There's doctors, nurses, every kind of health care worker everywhere, blood on the floor, kids in the hallway bleeding, surgeons working on patients in the rooms.

Amna Nawaz:

Dr. G, as he's known, has cared for hundreds of Uvalde children since they were babies.

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

and the first thing I thought was like, oh, crap, is this one of my kids? And, lo and behold, it was, and not just one, two, or three. At this count, so far, it's five.

Amna Nawaz:

Five kids?

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

Five kids.

Amna Nawaz:

That you treated?

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

That I have seen since they were newborns.

Amna Nawaz:

Guerrero described the scene that confronted medical staff at the hospital.

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

It was probably the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life, with basically not recognizable, with the majority of his facial features and head missing at that point.

And then you cover that part back up, you can just recognize a little boy below that with a cartoon shirt, cartoon shoes. This is a kid that was just at school doing their normal daily thing. So, I think that was the hardest part of my day.

Amna Nawaz:

Among his patients, an 11-year-old girl who survived the shooting.

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

In a nutshell, this kiddo just said that she was in a room where her teacher got shot. She actually explained how her teacher yelled out, asking for help, and asked her to call 911.

And this kid was smart enough to cover herself with blood that she had found on the floor to act like she was deceased, basically, so the shooter would not identify her and shoot at her.

Amna Nawaz:

This little girl thought to do that?

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

She did. She did, 10, 11 years old, and can think like that. And…

Amna Nawaz:

As the names of the victims were confirmed, Dr. G remembered one in particular, Amerie Jo Garza.

Dr. Roy Guerrero:

I have known her since she was basically a newborn, right?

So, this kiddo was yours all this time. You saw them grow up, and now they're gone. And we don't understand why. I think it's the finality of that, right, that you can't change it, no matter what — no matter what you do.

Amna Nawaz:

For the second straight day, people in and around Uvalde turned up for one another, lining up here for a blood drive.

Keric Hill, Blood Donor:

You can't do anything else. You can't give money to the families. You can't — maybe you can't bring food, but the little thing you can do, like donate blood, and we do that.

Amna Nawaz:

Keric Hill drove from his home 65 miles away and took the day off from work in order to donate.

Keric Hill:

You all cover all this now. But, in two weeks, a week, the next event, all the cameras will be gone, and all these families will still be going through the same thing.

Everybody will be changed here. There's no way something like this can happen in this kind of area, with the way these children have seen things, the way law enforcement, everybody had to clean everything up. And it just — there's no way this isn't going to last.

Amna Nawaz:

Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke, who's long called for gun control measures, also gave blood, and spoke to reporters afterwards.

Congressman, these kinds of attacks continue to happen. Is there any sense that this time is somehow different in any way, that something will change?

Beto O'Rourke (D), Texas Gubernatorial Candidate: It is up to us. It's up to all of us. These kids, their parents, with whom I have met, didn't choose this.

We, the people of Texas, though, have a choice. We all know that we can change this. We all know that we have the power to change this. We all know that it's going to take a long time.

Person:

We're here for you.

Amna Nawaz:

With grief still through the community, hundreds streamed into a vigil last night. Locals filled the stands to the rafters, spilling onto the dirt floor. A space typically reserved for rodeos last night was a house of healing.

Person:

I cry a lot. And I cried a lot today and yesterday. I may cry some more here as we speak. You may cry because our hearts are broken. We are devastated.

Amna Nawaz:

The prayers and powerful messages belie the deep pain many here are still carrying.

Roy and Dora Sotelo brought their two daughters to the vigil. As the girls' schools went on lockdown during the shooting, little sister Leia texted big sister Chloe.

Chloe Sotelo, Uvalde Resident:

I opened my phone and I went to Facebook. And I saw the police department post an active shooter on — at Robb school.

And the first thing I did was text some friends and, like, ask if their siblings are OK. And then I texted my sister, because she texted me. She was like: "I love you. If anything, just remember that."

And I texted her, like, you're OK. Like, you will be fine.

Amna Nawaz:

You sent her that message?

Leia Sotelo, Uvalde Resident:

Yes.

Amna Nawaz:

Why did you send it?

Leia Sotelo:

Because I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if it was going to be my last day or not.

Roy Sotelo, Uvalde Resident:

I have a lot of friends that lost their kids, and it's hard. You want your kids to bury you. You don't want to bury them. So, it's hard. It's hard.

Amna Nawaz:

Residents here in Uvalde are still very much in mourning, feeling that loss and the grief.

And even as we stand here today outside of Robb Elementary School, community members continue to show up to bring flowers and memorials for the 19 children and two teachers who were killed. Funeral preparations are now under way. And two funeral homes have confirmed to us they will be providing those services free of charge to the families.

But, Judy, we should also mention there's a growing sense of outrage over why more was not done and could more have been done by law enforcement responding to the shooting on that day to possibly save the lives of those children and teachers — Judy.

Judy Woodruff:

Oh, Amna, it's clear that community has come together, but it's so hard, so hard to listen to these families you spoke with.

Thank you, Amna.