Texas officials are under fire for delayed action when charging into Uvalde Elementary. The gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, was said to have been in the school for an hour before police took action, ignoring witnesses and onlookers encouraging the unit to pursue. 

Ramos was illustrated as a lone wolf from a troubled home. The Texas shooting occurred late Tuesday morning at Robb Elementary School. The 18-year-old Gunmen shot his grandmother in the face before heading to the Elementary school. After crashing his car near Robb Elementary school, the gunman was briefly engaged with a police officer but continued to go into the school with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle, copious amounts of ammunition, and wearing protective gear.

This shooting is the deadliest school shooting recorded in Texas history and the third deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history. 

The scene was described as almost surreal. But reality set in when onlookers on the street shouted at officers to “go in there!” Eyewitness Juan Carranza watched the scene unfold from his house across the street. He said he heard women yell at the police to go in, but no action was taken.

The shock echoed when Javier Cazares, a man whose daughter got killed in the attack, told the news agency he suggested running into the school with other onlookers because the police “weren’t doing anything.”

Families affected by the mass shooting were directed to the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center, where they waited for hours for any news of their loved ones. Many families were still waiting by nightfall, hoping to hear that their children were safe. Many families reported that they provided DNA samples as requested by authorities to help identify victims. By 10:30 p.m., in a scene sure to pull emotion, several families left the building after hearing they’d just lost their loved one.

Steven McCraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, spoke during a news conference on Wednesday, saying that the gunman was on site between 40 minutes and an hour before law enforcement could “contain” him. Officers said the gunman locked himself in a classroom which officers then struggled to gain access. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told CNN that dozens of officers responded to the shooting, “They entered that classroom, and they took care of the situation as quickly as they possibly could,” he said.

 A senior Department of Homeland Security official told USA TODAY on Tuesday night that a U.S. Border Protection agent was able to shoot and kill the gunman eventually. A DHS official speaking on the investigation said the agent got shot in the foot or lower leg when confronting the gunman and was being treated at a local hospital for his injuries.

It was also later brought to the public attention that the attacker sent messages on social media about the shooting minutes before it happened. According to CNN, the private messages were sent to a 15-year-old girl in Germany who Ramos had met online. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Ramos had promised to shoot his grandmother in private messages sent thirty minutes before the shooting. A message following the previous declared that he had done so, and in a final message sent 15 minutes before the shooting, he announced that he was going to target an elementary school.

The topic of gun laws in America reemerged as many blame their legality being the cause of the school shootings. It is legal to buy a gun in Texas when you turn 18. According to U.S. media, Ramos purchased a firearm shortly after his 18th birthday. On Wednesday, an overpour of sympathy was sent to Texas. U.S. President Joe Biden admitted to opposing national gun laws after seeing the second mass shooting in less than a month. The president said the idea that a teenager was able to legally purchase weapons that were “designed and marketed to kill, is just wrong.”

The children that got killed were between the ages of 7 and 10. Teachers Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia also died in the shooting. More than a dozen people were also wounded. Vigils took place for the shooting victims, while people have been laying flowers near the school campus as tributes.