Texas school shooting: Police officer armed with rifle ‘squandered chance to kill gunman Uvalde’ | US News

A police officer armed with a rifle hesitated when he got the chance to shoot a Uvalde rifleman, it was reported.

The unidentified city police chief, who was carrying an AR-15-style weapon, appeared to have stopped for fear of hitting children, the senior police chief told The New York Times.

Other officials from another department – the Uvalde school district police force – arrived early but drove past the gunman, not seeing him in the school parking lot, officials said.

Salvador Ramos, 18 years old, killed 21 people, including 19 children, at Robb Elementary School in Texas on May 24. He is not believed to have left a manifesto or a note explaining his actions.

Police did not confront him for more than an hour, even as distraught parents urged them to enter the school.

Vice-captain Ricardo Rios said the opportunity to free-kick Ramos passed “very quickly”, perhaps within seconds.

Any attempt to bring down the moving gunman would be difficult, he added. If the officer opens fire and hits a bystander – especially a child – he could face a criminal investigation.

Police chief Rios told the newspaper: “I understood, after speaking with some of the officers present, that the gunman engaged two officers of the City of Uvalde when they got there, outside the building. .”

Officers, including riflemen, hid behind patrol cars.

Recounting the conversation, Deputy Chief of Police Rios said: “I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you shoot? Why didn’t you join in?’ And that’s when he told me about the background.

“According to the police, they did not participate again because there were children playing behind them and they were afraid of hitting the children.

“I didn’t hit him or anything,” Mr Rios added. “I got it.”

The Uvalde Police Department, whose officer is believed to have targeted the gunman, did not respond to a request for comment, The New York Times reported.

Mr. Rios said he shared his information with a special committee of the Texas House of Representatives that is investigating the school massacre.

Representative Dustin Burrows, who chaired the committee, defended its decision to interview witnesses privately and not disclose its findings to date.

One person’s truth may be different from another’s truth, he said.

A teacher who survived a school shooting said he would never forgave the policeman for taking more than an hour to get into his classroom after the gunman opened fire first.

Arnulfo Reyes, a 3rd and 4th grade teacher who teaches in room 111, was shot in the lung and back by Ramos.