Ulvade Police Knew Kids Were Trapped Inside School With Shooter

Criticism towards Texan authorities' response to the Uvalde shooting has been compounded by a new 911 call suggesting officers knew children were trapped inside the school with the shooter.

Last Tuesday (May 24), 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot and killed at least 19 children and two adults at the Robb Elementary School, before he was shot dead by police.

It's since been reported that the gunman was in the school for 40 minutes to an hour before law enforcement went inside, with many slamming the force for not storming the building sooner.

ABC News has since obtained a video featuring a 911 call in which a dispatcher appears to alert officers at the scene that a student was calling from the classroom Ramos had entered.

In the audio, the dispatcher says: "You do have a child on the line. Room 12, are we able to... is anybody inside the building? Child is advising he is in the room full of victims. Full of victims at this moment," before adding that there were 'eight to nine children' still alive.

The audio appears to contradict statements made by Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw last Friday, May 27, who said officers believed the gunman was 'stationary, barricaded' and that there was 'no risk to other children'.

He added that this was wrong in retrospect as there were clearly kids alive in the school as the shooter entered.

ABC News added that Texas authorities said the Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo had ordered teams not to enter the classroom after wrongly believing the shooter was no longer active.

However, the 911 call raises further questions about law enforcement's timeline of the incident and whether they were in fact aware that there were children with the gunman inside.

Questions around gun laws in the US have also been raised in the wake of the attack, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott receiving demands to try to enact some sort of reform when visiting the Robb Elementary memorial over the weekend.

The governor, who was also booed by onlookers during his visit, is facing increasing backlash due to his history of loosening gun laws in the state, having signed a bill that allowed people to carry handguns openly in public without a permit last year.

According to the Texas Tribute, the pro-gun politician also approved legislation that enabled teachers to have more access to guns on school grounds.

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