Texas DPS Says No Armed Police Officers Were Readily Available to Confront Uvalde Gunman

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - There were no armed police officers readily available to confront the 18-year-old gunman who shot and killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School earlier this week, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Victor Escalon said on Thursday.

"No, there was not an officer readily available [and] armed," Escalon said during a press conference when asked if an armed police officer on campus was readily available to confront the gunman.

Escalon added that early media reports about a school district police officer confronting the suspect as he made entry into the school are inaccurate.

No one confronted the suspect between the time he shot his grandmother and when he walked into the school, Escalon said.

Authorities arrived to the school about four minutes after the gunman entered the school and about an hour later they went into the building and killed the suspect, Escalon said. The gunman was approaching the school and outside in its parking lot firing shots at the building for 12 minutes before entering, according to the timeline provided by Escalon.

A majority of the gunfire from the gunman occurred at the beginning of the incident in the school, but there was some exchange amid the negotiations between law enforcement and the suspect, Escalon said.

Escalon explained that the initial officers who arrived at the school received gunfire from the suspect which prevented them from making entry initially. The police officers then called for additional resources, such as tactical teams, body armor, precision riflemen, and negotiators, he added.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Angeli Rose Gomez, a parent of several students that were inside the elementary school during the shooting, was one of numerous parents who urgently pleaded with police officers to charge into the school after seeing their delayed response to the incident. She was eventually arrested by federal law enforcement officers who claimed she was intervening in an active investigation, the report said.

The White House said Biden will visit Uvalde, Texas on Sunday. Meanwhile, the administration and congressional lawmakers have reportedly renewed discussion about passing gun control legislation.

So far this year, there have been more than 200 mass shootings in the United States and 27 school shootings.