And tonight there are serious
questions about how long it took
for law enforcement to respond
and take out the gunman in the
Uvalde Elementary school massacre
during a press conference today,
DPS officials said the suspect was
not confronted by a school resource
officer as previously thought before.
He entered an unlocked door,
and it appears he was barricaded
inside that classroom where he
killed 19 children and two teachers
who are about an hour before
he was finally shot and killed.
It is shocking and upsetting.
News for families of the victims
and the community as they struggle
to cope with the immense loss of
so many young lives, and the two
teachers who tried to protect them
again tonight we have
team coverage in uvalda.
Adam Bennett sat down with the
father of one of those young victims,
but first Xavier Walton with a
closer look at the timeline of
how it all happened, Xavier.
Lend me a. You mentioned
it just a second ago.
It took approximately 60 minutes for a
tactical team to get in place before
entering into Rob Elementary School.
Sadly, by then it was too late.
That's fear mounting with frustration
as families were trying to rush
into Rob Elementary School.
Authorities say.
At 11:40 Tuesday, the gunman entered
through the unlocked back door.
4 minutes later, ivaldi police and
Ivaldi ISD officers make entry.
They're met with gunfire,
take cover, and call for backup.
We need equipment.
We need specialty equipment.
We need body armor we need.
The precision Rifleman,
according to DPS with the
gunman barricaded inside.
It, took approximately one hour
for a tactical team to arrive.
The video shows what it was like
for parents outside the school.
How is how was angry I was?
I was scared well my son you know how
could this happen? To the babies.
Jackie and Martine son was inside during
the shooting. He made it out alive.
And that is it. 21 but
to honor those who didn't.
Flowers and a balloon for each soul.
One by one, Jackie stopped
my room for you. Valdy school colors
emotion building with every step.
Sad. Can't believe this is.
Going on right now.
You know, and it's parents try
to make sense of this sadness.
Investigators are working to
provide answers for them,
including why it took some 60
minutes to get a tactical team
in place and then go into the
school reporting live here.
Ivaldi Xavier Walton.
I'll send it back to you,
of course. Still lots of questions.
As you said, we'll stay on top of
this story to get those answers
for you. Xavier, thank you.
Let's bring in Adam Bennett now Adam,
you sat down with the father
of one of the young victims.
How is he doing tonight?
Well, Mia he told me that
reality really hit him today,
but he did reach out to one of our
colleagues to say he was ready to talk.
Motivated by memories of his
daughter that he wanted to share.
Far from the cameras,
the memorials and the reason for
all of it we met Jesse Rodriguez
and his fiance as meralda this
afternoon in this Uvalde Park.
Still mad. Sick, angry Jesse's
first day back in the city.
Since leaving town to block out the
worst day of his life suddenly.
Is ugly because. A piece of my life is gone.
His 10 year old daughter, Annabelle,
was murdered inside Rob Elementary.
Rodriguez didn't want to talk about that.
Instead he wanted to tell me about the girl
who loved school and hated missing class.
He's been on the road many,
many times up there last day.
Rodriguez says his daughter was
curious, including about the
family's carpentry business.
Last things I was teaching with
putting laminate flooring.
They'll adored the family's 2 year old dog
Patrona and wanted to be a veterinarian.
And she enjoyed goofing around
with her twin sister Angela,
who was home schooled 10 years of good times.
Rodriguez is now putting into words,
but I need to think.
She'd be gone like that. That's soon
stemming from a pain that is indescribable.
And Annabelle's cousin Jackie was
also killed in this shooting.
Rodriguez tells me he's really
leaning on the support of family
right now to keep moving forward. Mia,
it is so very much for one family.
Our hearts are with them tonight.
Adam, thank you. County coroner who
responded to Tuesday's massacre,
says he will never get over what
he saw when he entered the school
to identify the Victims Precinct.
4 justice of the Peace Lalo Diaz
can see the 21 Wooden Crosses
for the victims in a City Park,
across from his office.
He tells us he had to use photos and
DNA samples to identify the victims.
He eventually figured out 49
year old teacher Irma Garcia,
with whom he went to high school with,
was one of the teachers killed after
spotting family photos on her desk.
It breaks my heart and I have broke
down a little bit and I'm probably
gonna break down in the future.
It's just one of those things where.
You don't, you're not prepared for what you
just saw. And even more heartbreaking
was news that Garcia's husband Joe passed
away today from a massive heart attack.
This was Joe Garcia just this
morning in the Gray shirt,
leaving red roses at the memorial and
crossed that bears his wife's name.
He reportedly passed away
after returning home.
The couple leaves behind their four children,
the Houston area, doing its part,
standing with the people of Uvalde folks
in Fort Payne County coming together
this evening to remember the victims.
Fortman County Judge KP George.
Led the vigil, during which the
names of the 21 victims were read.
Faith leaders offered prayers while George
and other officials called for action
like tougher gun policies and acknowledging
the shootings can happen anywhere.
This could have been us and you
have seen it's happening in Buffalo.
It's happening various
parts in in in California.
It's happening everywhere
so it could have been us
common sense gun laws.
And also they believe we could
uphold our Second Amendment.
We could do both and
we need to do both.
George says it's important to show the
residents in Uvalda they are not alone.
New Tonight, Governor Greg Abbott
will not attend the NRA convention,
which kicks off at the GRB tomorrow.
Instead, he'll leave a pre recorded message.
He plans to return to Uvalda tomorrow
to talk about state resources available
for those impacted by the shooting.
At last check.
Senator Ted Cruz and former President
Trump are still planning to attend
the convention and security is being
beefed up in anticipation of protests
from both sides of the gun debate.
Yeah, Matt Doherty.
Joining us live outside the GRB
tonight with what you can expect
there over the next several days. That
well, 10s of thousands
of people are expected to
show up here over the next
few days. This year's event is
especially controversial, though.
Lots of protesters are already
voicing their disapproval.
I feel very strongly that Mayor Turner
should cancel the NRA convention.
Demonstrators stood in protest
outside of City Hall today requesting
the mayor call off the convention.
There will be probably a number
of people who will be protesting
and voicing their views.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said
in a press conference today.
The NRA booked the event at two years
ago and even if people don't like it.
There's nothing the city can do.
We're plans and have already been made.
You just can't cancel that convention.
We will not allow our Second Amendment
rights to be taken away from us
by a bunch of cheap politicians.
For those persons who will be attending
the NRA, whether we agree with their
positions that they take on guns,
we certainly will be providing the
necessary security for those individuals.
Who will be attending the NMRA convention?
The mayor says he expects around
80,000 people to attend the convention
over the course of three days in
downtown barricades have already
started to pop up on some streets,
but we still don't know all of
the streets that will be closed.
The city said it would be
releasing a map of the closures,
but we're still waiting to see it.
Multiple protests are planned
during the course of the event.
We're told they will be
confined to Discovery Green,
adding to what could be a traffic
mess in downtown Fort Bend ISD.
Will be conducting its graduation
ceremonies at the Toyota
Center Friday and Saturday.
Now, President Trump is expected
to be here tomorrow. For that
nobody will be allowed to have a
gun in the room when he speaks.
That's nothing new, though.
That's been the long term policy
of the Secret Service back to you.