Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo made the wrong decision to not enter the classroom to encounter the gunman responsible for killing 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.
Arredondo was not among a contingent of law enforcement officials who were on hand at a Friday morning news conference.
McCraw revealed that an on-scene commander made a calculation that the event transitioned from an active shooter situation to a barricade event. McCraw added that it took more than an hour for officials to enter the room.
"Of course, it was not the right decision," McCraw said. "It was the wrong decision. Period. There's no excuse for that."
McCraw said no efforts were made to enter the room during this time.
McCraw gave an updated timeline, which was different than previous timelines offered by police:
11:28 a.m. Gunman wrecks his car and fires weapon at two bystanders who were near a funeral home across from the school.
11:30 a.m. First 911 call reporting shots fired outside the school.
11:31 a.m. A school resource officer responds to a dispatch, goes past gunman who is said to be hiding behind cars.
11:33 a.m. Gunman enters the school — a previous timeline stated he entered at 11:40 a.m. Gunman entered through an unlocked door, McCraw said.
11:35 a.m. The first officers enter the school. Two officers initially responded are grazed by the suspect's bullets.
12:03 p.m. Nineteen officers are in the school. McCraw said this was enough manpower to enter the classroom, but the decision was made not to enter. Around this time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrive, but were held back from entering the classroom.
12:16 p.m. 911 call from a student inside a classroom said that eight or nine students were still alive inside the classroom.
12:50 p.m. Officers breach classroom door and fatally wound gunman.
In the nearly one hour it took for law enforcement to fatally wound the gunman, officials said officers were evacuating students and teachers from neighboring classrooms. Social media videos also show officers setting a perimeter around the school, holding back desperate parents from entering the school.
Three of those injured remained hospitalized at University Health in San Antonio Friday morning. A 10-year-old girl has recently been discharged, the hospital said.
