UVALDE (AP) — A police commander at the scene of the Uvalde massacre was informed that children were alive in a classroom with the gunman more than 30 minutes before officers breached the room and ended one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
A dispatcher can be heard on audio recordings obtained by CNN telling the acting city police chief that “eight to nine” kids were alive and in need of help in the classroom. The call came as hundreds of officers gathered in and around Robb Elementary School, where 19 students and two teachers were killed.
The dispatcher spoke with Lt. Mariano Pargas minutes after a 10-year-old girl dialed 911 from inside the adjoining rooms where the gunman had holed up. The call underscores that members of law enforcement were aware there were children in danger even as they waited more than 70 minutes to confront the gunman. It highlights the actions of another police commander in the hesitant and haphazard response that prompted the firing of schools police Chief Pete Arredondo.
