School shooting: US cops admit making mistake in waiting for back up, not confront attacker

In the recent brutal shooting on Texas elementary school in the US, the police have admitted to making a mistake in waiting for nearly an hour for back up before confronting the attacker. A law enforcement official made a statement on Friday in this regard. In the terrifying incident, the gunman had killed 19 children and two teachers, media reports said. According to the statement of the official, the police made the "wrong decision" in waiting to breach the classroom where the 18-year-old shooter caused mayhem. Since the attack, the law enforcement has been under pressure as several people have raised numerous questions over the handling of the incident.  

After Salvador Ramos entered with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the survivors in the classroom called the 911 emergency number. But the police officers, who were in the hallway outside the room, kept waiting for assistance, as per Colonel Steven McCraw, director, Texas Department of Public Safety.  

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At a news briefing, McCraw said, "it was the wrong decision" of the onsite commander to wait for a specially trained tactical team and not enter the classroom.  

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Starting from 12:03 pm, a person, who was not named, called 911 multiple times to tell police by whispering that many people were dead but there were still "eight to nine" students alive, the colonel said. At 12:47 pm, a student called to ask the operator to send police "now". Until 12:50 pm, the officers did not enter the classroom, as per McCraw.   

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"I am livid, I was misled," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Friday. He said that he was given inaccurate information about the events in the incident.

(With inputs from agencies)