Shooting in Texas: Police make mea culpa for delaying their intervention at the Uvalde school

The police took the “wrong decision” of not entering the Uvalde school earlier where on Tuesday an armed youth killed 19 children and two teachers before taking refuge in a classroom, the director of the Department of Public Security of Uvalde said on Friday. TexasSteven McCraw.

“From the benefit of hindsight…it was the wrong decision, period.“, said McCraw in a tense press conference.

Look: 4 crucial contradictions of the police about the shooting in Texas that have called into question the actions of the agents

“If I thought this could help, I’d apologize.” he added very excited.

Nineteen agents waited in the corridor of the school to have a tactical unit enter the classrooms about an hour after the gunman, Salvador Ramos18, will enter the building on Tuesday.

Pressed by reporters to explain a criticized delay, the official said they thought “there might not be any survivors.”

However, he specified that the policeman received calls from multiple people in the two affected classrooms, including one student at 12:16 local time reporting that “Between eight and nine students were alive.”

McCraw said the student, who also reported multiple deaths, asked: “Please send to the policeman Already”.

The door was finally opened at 12:50 with keys handed over by a concierge.

Miah Cerrillo, 11, survived the massacre by covering herself in a partner’s blood and pretending to be dead as she heard gunshots and screams, the girl told CNN in an off-camera interview.

The Governor of TexasGreg Abbott, said at another press conference that he had been “misled” about the police response due to inaccurate initial information. “makes me livid”, he declared.

“Weapons to fight evil”

Meanwhile, the main pro-gun lobby in the United States, the National Rifle Association (NRA), is holding its convention in Houston, amid controversy over the timing of the meeting, which led politicians and stars of the country music to cancel their attendance.

“These tragedies turn our stomachs”, declared Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA, at the opening of the conference. But “restricting the most basic human rights that allow Americans to defend themselves is not the solution, never was,” he added.

Former President Donald Trump also rejected calls for more gun control at the event.

“The existence of evil in our world is no reason to disarm law-abiding citizens”, said. “The existence of evil is one of the best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens.”

The NRA said that to ensure the safety of Trump — to whom the organization donated tens of millions of dollars for his two presidential campaigns — guns were banned from entering the room.

In a sign of their discomfort, several country music stars decided not to attend. Among them, Don McLean, known for his song “American pie”What do i consider “disrespectful” act there.

Another notable absence is the firm Daniel Defense, manufacturer of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle used by the perpetrator of the massacre in Uvalde.

But thousands of gun enthusiasts milled around Houston’s sprawling convention center, packed with booths displaying semi-automatic rifles and hunting gear.

“Personally, I think there should be more education about weapons,” Lissy, 31, an ex-military man looking to find a new gun to hide under her skirt, told AFP because “does too hot for pants on Texas”.

“New Sandy Hook”

Outside the building, protesters were gathering with signs calling for a ban on assault rifles or demanding “stop killing children.

On this packed stage, Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who will face Greg Abbott in the November gubernatorial race, called at noon on “Act” against firearms.

“Our children’s lives are really at stake at the polling station,” assured.

In an unusual scene, a sign of the growing tension over the issue of weapons, O’Rourke interrupted the governor in the middle of a press conference on Wednesday, accusing him of being responsible for the tragedy.

The massacre, described as “new Sandy Hook” by the American press, alluding to the massacre in a school Connecticut elementary school in 2012, reopened the wounds of other school tragedies in America.

The faces of the child victims of attackbroadcast on television, and the testimonies of their anguished relatives have moved the country, reviving a wave of petitions to improve the regulation of the possession of weapons.

However, there is little chance that control measures will be taken, given the slim chance that Congress will approve ambitious national legislation on the subject.

Source: Elcomercio

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