we have a child on the line. he is in a room full of victims at this moment. cnn has not been able to independently confirm that video, but source of this video sun clear, and it s also not clear at what point in the incident that audio is heard. cnn has reached out to authorities. but we do know that texas authorities, what they said on friday that there were at least eight 911 calls that day from at least two separate callers inside the school over a span of 50 minutes. this all comes as the justice department announces it will investigate the police response to the shooting. and meantime the community will hold its first services for two victims of the tragedy later today. we ll have more on that in a moment but first let s get straight to cnn s paula reed live for more on this investigation and the new doj s role. what do you know with the doj s involvement? that s exactly the kind of evidence that the doj will want to examine as it conducts its review. this is not
still chief among the questions out there and why is the police department now backtracking on some of their basic findings? officials are going to be holding a briefing in texas in the next hour. let s begin though at this hour with cnn s rosa flores live in uvalde. rosa, what are you hearing from some of these children who managed to survive? reporter: well, kate, we are hearing about those intense moments when the shooter was inside the classroom, those intense moments when children were trying to do everything they could to survive. they describe the gunfire at first. they thought it was fireworks. you mentioned a little girl who covered herself in blood and played dead to try to survive, to make sure that she could do what she could do at that point in time to survive this terrible tragedy. but here they are, children describing what they lived through in their own words. take a listen. it was very terrifying. that didn t stop one of my friends getting hurt. i got
residents of uvalde, texas, are holding vigils for the 19 children and two teachers gunned down inside robb elementary school by an 18-year-old high school dropout. and people are leaving flowers and balloons at a makeshift memorial outside the school in the largely latino community not far from the border with mexico. and we are learning the names of some of the victims, mostly 9 and 10-year-old children. the justice of the peace in uvalde says some of the bodies are being released to funeral homes as families make their arrangements. more now on the investigation from cnn s jason carol. reporter: 11:21 a.m., the time stamp from a text message the gunman sent saying he s just shot his grandmother. the gunman was 18 years old and reportedly a high school dropout. reportedly there has been no criminal history identified yet. there was no known mental health history of the gunman. reporter: soon after that text message to a girl ramos met online, another one saying he w
hold up for you, says cities soul crushed. i think that perfectly describes the feeling here in uvalde this morning. behind me is the elementary the school. overnight, a series of crosses were put out, one for each of the 21 victims, the 19 children and the two teachers that were killed here. this small community of 15,000 people is coming together, united in grief for what happened here. about 1000 people attended a vigil for the victims last night. a solo violinist closed with a rare rendition of amazing grace. the music punctuated by the anguish of those who were there. almost everyone at that vigil, it feels like everyone in this town has some connection to the victims. including ten-year-old tests marie mata, who loved tiktok dance is, and ariana grande a. they just received the honor rolled and received a good citizen award. we are just learning about how the mask or unfolded. there are questions about how the timeline and how long it took for law enforcement to step in
Created to build stronger relationship between police and communities. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming this morning and welcome to the National Law Enforcers Memorial and museum. We are thrilled to you this morning. Please stand with me for the presentation of the metropolitan Police Departments honor guard. O say can you see by the dawns early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars. Through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched. Were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets red glare. The bombs bursting in air. Gave proof through the night. That our flag was still there. O say does that star spangled banner yet wave. Oer the land of the free and the home of the brave [applause] thank you, ladies and gentlemen, please be seated and now i would like you all to help me welcome, from the metropolitan Police Departments chaplain corps, sherry west, who will lead us in an opening prayer. Pastor west