Uvalde police told of kids in class, waited

UVALDE, Texas — A police commander at the scene of the Uvalde massacre was informed that children were alive in a classroom with the gunman more than 30 minutes before officers breached the room and ended the shooting.

A dispatcher can be heard on audio recordings obtained by CNN telling the city’s acting police chief that “eight to nine” kids were alive and in need of help in the classroom. The call came as hundreds of officers gathered in and around Robb Elementary School, where 19 students and two teachers were killed.

The dispatcher spoke with Lt. Mariano Pargas minutes after a 10-year-old girl dialed 911 from inside the adjoining rooms where the gunman had holed up.

The city placed Pargas on administrative leave in July after a report from lawmakers on the response to the shooting. He told CNN that his lawyer instructed him not to speak publicly but, “there’s a lot of stuff that I can explain, that I would love to defend myself.”

Authorities have said the gunman did most of his shooting within minutes of entering the classroom at 11:33 a.m., but it’s unclear whether there’s an official tally of how many children in the room were not killed.

Body camera footage previously released by the city shows that at 12:11 p.m. officers massed in a hallway outside the classroom were informed that a Border Patrol tactical team was 30 minutes away.

A dispatcher can be heard saying there is a child on the line from the classroom talking of a “room full of victims.” That is relayed to Pargas, who makes no audible comment on the footage.

According to CNN, Pargas spoke with a dispatcher at 12:16 p.m. It was not until 12:50 p.m. that officers entered the room and killed the gunman.