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  • 2022-05-26 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Officers Rescue Own Children During Uvalde School Shooting? (en)
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  • On May 26, 2022, racial justice activist Shaun King tweeted that one or more law enforcement officers rescued their own children on the day of the deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, while the incident was unfolding. And that was 91 minutes before the shooter, Salvador Ramos, was stopped, the tweet alleged. The Associated Press initially published an exhaustive article that provided a partial timeline of what local officials say happened at the school that day, a day in which 19 children and two adults were tragically killed. It's true that, before law enforcement confronted the shooter in a classroom, an off-duty Border Patrol officer rescued his own daughter and other children with the assistance of other members of the law-enforcement community. However, surveillance footage released more than one month after the shooting showed that part of King's tweet was incorrect. King claimed the shooter was stopped 91 minutes after one or more officers rescued their own children. This was not possible, as the shooter was inside the school for around 77 minutes total, the footage showed. When this rumor first started making the rounds on Twitter, one user asked King about his tweet, saying, Where was this written? Another person responded with a tweet that contained a video. That clip was quickly on track to be viewed more than 1 million times from that one upload. (It was downloaded and uploaded again by other Twitter users.) The video came from the San Antonio-based local news station KENS 5. In the clip, KENS 5's Vanessa Croix interviewed Lt. Christopher Olivarez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety. It was aired live on the evening of May 24, hours after the shooting. KENS 5 posted the interview to its own YouTube channel. The part pertinent to this subject begins at the 1:34 mark in the video: The transcript of the relevant question and answer has been transcribed below: We reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety by email, submitting several questions in an attempt to find the facts behind the matter. Also on May 26, The New York Times published a story that told of an off-duty Border Patrol officer named Jacob Albarado. According to the reporting, Albarado was just sitting down for a haircut when he received a text message from his wife, Trisha, a fourth-grade teacher at the school. The couple had a second-grade daughter who was also inside the school: On May 27, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw spoke at a news conference in front of Robb Elementary School, making a statement and taking questions. The Associated Press published a story with new details from the remarks that were made. During the news conference, McCraw was asked, Did any police officers go in to get their own kids while the parents were outside? McCraw responded only with, Not that I'm aware of. (It was reported by a major news organization that McCraw answered by saying No, which was somewhat different than McCraw's real answer, Not that I'm aware of.) The question asked to McCraw about while the parents were outside referred to the Wall Street Journal's reporting that said, as the incident unfolded, parents outside of Robb Elementary said they were tackled, placed into handcuffs, and pepper-sprayed, all while they were encouraging the police and other law enforcement to enter the school. We also inquired with the Texas Department of Public Safety about this, but have yet to receive a response. The brief question and answer can be watched in the video below beginning at the 39:00 mark: On July 12, 2022, surveillance footage from inside the school in Uvalde was obtained and published by local journalists. The lengthy video showed that Ramos was inside the school for around 77 minutes before officers entered a classroom that he had entered. This timing meant that part of King's tweet — the reference to 91 minutes — was not possible. It's unclear when, exactly, during the 77 minutes, Albarado and other officers rescued his daughter and the other children. This story will be updated if we learn further details. (en)
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