pargas, who was suspended by the city of uvalde in july and placed on paid leave while they investigate his role as a commanding officer during the shooting, is walking in and out of the hallway taking cover next to a wall, failing to organize a response. even when ruben ruiz barrels back into the hallway, telling his colleagues that his wife, eva morales, called him from inside the room and says she s dying. hey, hey, hey, hey, ruben, ruben. she says she s shot. reporter: it s pargas, the acting chief, who comes and removes ruiz from the hallway. as time goes by, the police on the scene can be heard looking to pargas, asking him for direction. they want to know what the plan is. pargas tells them he s waiting on the texas department of public safety. are we just waiting for more tech or what s going on?
told not to speak to the media. adding, quote, it s not that we re afraid because there s nothing to be afraid of. we did what we could, but the thing is that we ve been told that we can t. in interviews with texas rangers, he was asked why officers didn t force their way into the classroom sooner, as active shooter training clearly indicates. the room was extremely dark, and we didn t know where he was or is kids were standing, they were by him or not knowing what was behind the door. pargas didn t tell the investigators about his direct call with the dispatcher and claimed he didn t remember hearing radio traffic about the 911 calls. we had heard all those shots. we know there were kids in there. there were kids alive. there were kids we have no idea. but pargas did know. he knew ruben ruiz s wife called and said she was inside dying. and he knew a child called 911 and said she was in room 112
horrors happening inside the classroom. pargas walks back in the hallway one more time. a few seconds later, the acting police chief turns his back and walks out. in the doorway, pargas can be seen talking to the texas ranger, who, as cnn has previously reported, is currently suspended and under investigation for failing to organize a response that day. but pargas doesn t appear to tell him about the 911 information he received. cnn has learned from sources familiar with the investigation that a number of law enforcement officials on scene, including high-ranking officers with the texas department of public safety, say they did not know about the 911 call. a few minutes later, at 12:20 p.m., pargas can be seen walking away from the school, away from the hallway where dozens of officers from several law enforcement agencies remained,
debates, at times confused and seemingly uncertain about what to do. they wouldn t breach the classroom for another 30 minutes. cnn analysis of a new never before made public angle of the hallway security camera shows that pargas never steps foot back inside this hallway. in interviews with investigators obtained by cnn, pargas says he didn t believe he was in charge and officers from the uvalde city police were there only to assist the school police until the texas department of public safety took over. the texas department of public safety, which placed seven of its officers who were at the scene under further investigation, labelled uvalde school police chief pete arradondo as the on-scene commander. arradondo, who was fired in august, maintains he wasn t in charge either. cnn reached pargas by phone. he said, quote, he would love to defend himself, but he s been
reporter: at 12:10 p.m., nearly 30 minutes after police first arrived, 10-year-old chloe torrez, a fourth grader trapped inside the room with the gunman, is on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. i m in the classroom 112. 112, yes, ma am. what s your name. chloe torrez. please help me. there s a lot of dead bodies. cnn obtained that call and published it with the approval of her parents. par gas said other police on scene are immediately informed. she is in the room full of victims. one of the victims, a child called 911. the room is full of victims. child 911 call. pargas, who didn t have a