One of the major questions from the moment that news broke of the horrific shooting at a school in Uvalde, TX, was how police were reportedly on the scene before Salvador Ramos even entered, yet he was able to kill so many children.

Early on, there were mentions from law enforcement that the initial responding officers waited for a “tactical team,” something that seemed so incredibly ridiculous that most glossed over it. Yet, according to witnesses who spoke to the Associated Press, that is what happened. There are also videos that add more context to the tragic event.

Disclaimer: I leave open the possibility that the witnesses quoted in the following report are somehow mistaken. If they are, law enforcement should come out and address the issue directly. This is not something that can be left ambiguous.

Cops stood outside the school while the killer rampaged inside.

Onlookers yelled at them to go in. They didn’t. One parent urged bystanders:

“Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to.” @AP story: https://t.co/l2CqPCzmAf

— Andy Specht (@AndySpecht) May 26, 2022

Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman’s rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.

“Go in there! Go in there!” nearby women shouted at the officers soon after the attack began, said Juan Carranza, 24, who saw the scene from outside his house, across the street from Robb Elementary School in the close-knit town of Uvalde. Carranza said the officers did not go in…

…Upset that police were not moving in, he raised the idea of charging into the school with several other bystanders.

“Let’s just rush in because the cops aren’t doing anything like they are supposed to,” he said. “More could have been done.”

“They were unprepared,” he added.

If the police actually waited 40 minutes to enter the school, that’s unforgivable. Whoever made that decision needs to be fired immediately, and every officer who followed it also needs to be relieved of their duties. I understand it’s a tough job. I get the pay isn’t great. But law enforcement has a duty to protect and serve.

At some point, you have to try to play hero ball and let the chips fall. I know that might have cost an officer his or her life, but you can’t, under any circumstances, allow a shooter to enter a school and systematically kill 21 people and then barricade himself in a classroom. There is no excuse for that. No amount of protocol or risk makes it acceptable to stand outside and hassle parents who are begging the police to enter the building and do something.

Juan Carranza, the father who described the situation, described the situation to the AP and his story appears to be corroborated by videos that until now lacked context. In the below clip, you can see officers trying to subdue what is assumed to be one of the parents while police remain outside.

This video make so much more sense now. The cops literally stopped parents from helping their kids. pic.twitter.com/zhQfUjlpjd https://t.co/DqgZUH3uCC

— Matt Novak (@paleofuture) May 26, 2022

I’ve got no words for how those who lost children in this terrible crime must feel knowing that there was this period of inaction. Having a son or daughter be murdered is already unimaginable, but now they will be haunted by the knowledge that something could have been possibly been done directly on that day and wasn’t.

While people are arguing over useless background checks, there needs to be a real conversation about what happened with law enforcement here. This can’t be swept under the rug and left to pass with a shrug. If this story is further corroborated and officers did actually stand around waiting for a tactical team, not confronting the shooter, heads need to roll.