Parents and onlookers only have more questions about the Uvdale, Texas, school shooting at Robb Elementary School. Reports that numerous people urged police to enter the school after the gunman did are surfacing and raising more questions than answers.
It's unclear why the gunman was able to enter the school after exchanging gunfire with officers outside — and what happened in the 40 minutes that he was inside.
Onlooker Juan Carranza told The Guardian that one woman yelled for police to go into the school as they stood by. Javier Cazares, who lost his 10-year-old daughter, Jacklyn, in the shooting, said he arrived at the school while police were still outside.
Javier and several other people hatched a plan. He recalls telling the onlookers, "Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to." He then added, "More could have been done. They were unprepared."
The 21 victims of the shooting have all been identified. They include 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers, and all the victims were from the same classroom. Eight-year-old Uziyah Garcia was described by his grandfather as "the sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known."
Ten-year-old Xavier Lopez was descried as a child who loved to dance. His cousin said, "He was just a loving 10-year-old little boy, just enjoying life, not knowing that this tragedy was going to happen today."
Amerie Jo Garza had just celebrated her 10th birthday on May 10, 2022. Her mother wrote to ABC, "My little love is now flying high with the angels above. Please don’t take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them. I love you Amerie Jo. Watch over your baby brother for me."
It remains unclear why officers did not attempt to enter the building and save the children and teachers, especially as it's possible the gunman was in the classroom for up to an hour.
Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department for Public Safety told CNN that the gunman, "barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom." However, that does little to explain why the officers appeared to have failed on such a catastrophic level.
