that s correct, this is a memorial near the town square in uvalde, where people have gathered around a fountain. and as you can see, they have laid out candles and balloons and messages to those that were lost in last week s tragic shooting and to their families as well. we actually moved away from the elementary school in part because the president is visiting uvalde, today, and preparations are under way right now for his arrival. that s where we begin this morning. the president once again taking on the role of consoler in chief. in a few hours, president biden is set to visit this area and the memorial that has been set up at robb elementary school. the scene of only the latest mass shooting in the united states. president biden is scheduled to attend church here, and meet with family members of those who were killed. the president meeting with 21 families, 21 people killed, 2 teachers, 19 students, most of them third and fourth graders. 21 families forever marked when
and first lady are scheduled to meet with religious and community leaders and to mourn with the families whose children are killed. this is a comes as you volleys occult police force faces scrutiny for connection for the mass shooting at robb elementary. school the loved 19 children and two teachers dead. according to texas public safety officials. students and teachers repeatedly begged 9-1-1 operators for help. during the attack, while the school district police chief told more than a dozen officers to wait in a hallway. those actions have now become the center of the investigation into the horrific shooting in the near one hour delay in confronting the shooter who led to discipline lawsuits and even credible charges into meanwhile chilling new details are emerging about the 9-1-1 calls. that came from inside the classroom. the shooter barricaded himself. in the washington post has reporting, at 12:03 pm, a girl called 9-1-1 for a little over a minute and whispered that s
than an hour passed between the first 911 call and when the shooter was killed. cnn s shimon prokupecz pressed authorities for answers divergent a press conference friday. you say there were 19 officers gathered in the hallway or somewhere. what efforts were made to try and break through that door you say was locked? what effort were the officers making to try and break through either that door or another door to get inside that classroom? none at that time. why? the on-scene commander at the time believed it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject. you have people who are alive, children who are calling 911 saying please, send the police. they are alive in that classroom. there are lives that are at risk. that s not we re well aware of that. right. why was this decision made not to go in and rescue these children? again, the on-scene commander considered a barricaded subject and there was time and no children at risk. obviously, you
evacuating students and teachers from other parts of the school. even negotiating with the suspect. but they didn t have enough information on his exact location for an immediate take down. video from the school from outside the school meantime shows parents screaming at police to storm the school. the wall street journal talked to one parent who says she was put in handcuffs. police tackled another parent and threw them to the ground. and a third was pepper sprayed. police insist their actions inside the school did save lives. the american people need to understand that officers are making entry into the building. they do not know where the gunman is. they re hearing gunshots, they re receiving gunshots. at that point, if they proceeded any further not knowing where this suspect was at, they could have been shot. they could have been killed. at that point that gunman would have the opportunity to kill other people inside the school. video posted oen facebook shows the
everyone. this morning, there are now hard questions for authorities about the timeline of events and the police response, specifically why did they wait so long to go into the school? officials say the gunman was on school grounds for up to an hour before police were able to breach the classroom, stop the killing and neutralize, kill, the gunman. according to the washington post, parents who rushed to the scene heard gunfire inside the school, they begged officers to charge into the building. there was families trying to get in here, they were getting in here, they were getting into the school. fathers breaking out windows, pulling kids out of the windows. this morning, we have new video that shows the gunman entering a door at the school. authorities say the suspect was confronted by an officer as he made his way into the building. they say he dropped a bag full of ammunition before he got inside. also cnn has exclusively obtained a series of chilling text message