A series of 911 calls from fourth-grader Khloie Torres revealed the severity of the situation inside Robb Elementary School during the May 24, 2022, shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Khloie, who was hiding in her classroom, whispered into the phone, “Please, I don’t want to die. My teacher is dead. Oh, my God.” She later told the dispatcher, “No, it’s just me and a couple of friends. A lot of people are,” pausing before adding, “gone.”
The release of these calls, along with other audio and video recordings, came after a legal struggle led by news organizations like the Associated Press. The shooting resulted in the deaths of 19 students and 2 teachers, marking it as one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
One of the first 911 calls on the morning of the incident, came from a woman who reported that a pickup truck had crashed into a ditch and that the occupant had fled onto the school grounds. “Oh my God, they have a gun,” she said.
A few minutes later, another caller screamed into the phone, “He’s shooting at the kids! Get back!” As the caller described the situation, he shouted, “He’s inside the school! He’s inside the school,” with the sounds of screams in the background. “Oh my God in the name of Jesus. He’s inside the school shooting at the kids,” he added.
The response from law enforcement has faced severe criticism. Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman, Salvador Ramos, inside the classrooms. This delay has been a central issue for the families of the victims, who have been calling for accountability.
Brett Cross, whose 10-year-old nephew Uziyah Garcia was among those killed, expressed frustration with the delay in releasing the records. “If we thought we could get anything we wanted, we’d ask for a time machine to go back ... and save our children, but we can’t,” Cross said. “So all we are asking for is for justice, accountability, and transparency, and they refuse to give this to us.”
Jesse Rizo, whose 9-year-old niece Jacklyn Cazares was also killed, said the release of the information reignited his anger. He noted that it showed “the waiting and waiting and waiting” by law enforcement. “Perhaps if they were to have breached earlier, they would have saved some lives, including my niece’s,” Rizo said.
The police response involved nearly 150 US Border Patrol agents, 91 state police officials, and local officers. Despite the emergency calls from inside the classrooms, officers were seen focusing on setting up a perimeter and managing traffic outside the school. One officer commented on the radio at 12:06 pm, “We need the bodies to keep the parents out,” indicating the struggle to maintain control of the scene.
At 12:16 pm, a representative from the Texas Department of Public Safety called to check on the situation. She asked, “Do you have a command post? Or where do you need our officers to go?” The police representative responded that they knew several students were dead inside the school and that some survivors had been evacuated to a nearby building. At that time, there was still uncertainty about the status of a command post.
Finally, at 12:50 pm, a tactical team entered one of the classrooms and fatally shot Ramos.
A US Justice Department report released earlier this year criticized the lack of urgency in establishing a command centre, creating confusion among police about who was in charge. The report highlighted issues with law enforcement training, communication, leadership, and technology, questioning whether officers prioritized their own safety over that of the children and teachers.
The released 911 calls also included recordings from teachers in distress. One teacher described “a lot, a whole lot of gunshots,” while another sobbed into the phone as a dispatcher urged her to stay quiet. The first teacher cried, “Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!” before hanging up.
Before the school shooting, Ramos had shot and wounded his grandmother at home. He then took a pickup truck and drove to the school. Ramos’ uncle, Armando Ramos, made several 911 calls trying to reach Salvador, hoping to persuade him to stop. “Everything I tell him, he does listen to me,” Armando Ramos said. “Oh my God, please, please, don’t do nothing stupid,” he pleaded, “I think he’s shooting kids.”
The calls and footage have intensified scrutiny on the law enforcement response. Former Uvalde school Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school officer Adrian Gonzales face criminal charges for child abandonment and endangerment. Both have pleaded not guilty. Families of the victims are calling for additional charges and lawsuits against law enforcement, social media companies, online gaming platforms, and the gun manufacturers involved.
