Uvalde Cops KNEW Children Were Alive With Gunman, Waited an Hour For ‘Protective Equipment’

Screenshot via CNN.

Local cops were aware kids were alive in a classroom with the Uvalde gunman, but refused to act while they waited for protective equipment for themselves.

The new information was reported Thursday following an investigation by the New York Times. It challenges previous claims first responders were unaware there were survivors in classrooms at Robb Elementary School.

Citing a review of police body cameras and documents, Times reporter J. David Goodman wrote:

Heavily armed officers delayed confronting a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, for more than an hour despite supervisors at the scene being told that some trapped with him in two elementary school classrooms were in need of medical treatment, a new review of video footage and other investigative material shows. Instead, the documents show, they waited for protective equipment to lower the risk to law enforcement officers.

The school district police chief, who was leading the response to the May 24 shooting, appeared to be agonizing over the length of time it was taking to secure the shields that would help protect officers when they entered and to find a key for the classroom doors, according to law enforcement documents and video gathered as part of the investigation reviewed by The New York Times.

Pete Arredondo was in charge of the ineffective police response. It was previously reported distressed calls placed from inside the classroom where 19 children and two teachers died never made their way to him.

Goodman reported audio from the scene shows Arredondo was aware there were survivors. He agonized over how long it was taking to get protective shields to his officers.

“The chief, Pete Arredondo, and others at the scene became aware that not everyone inside the classrooms was already dead, the documents showed, including a report from a school district police officer whose wife, a teacher, had spoken to him by phone from one of the classrooms to say she had been shot,” Goodman reported.

One hour and 17 minutes elapsed between the time officers arrived at the school and a Border Patrol tactical unit finally killed the gunman.

The Times‘ investigation concluded that 60 police officers in total stood idly by as a teen carried out the worst school shooting in Texas history.