- Two police officers arrived at the Texas school shooting before the gunman entered the builing.
- The officers thought the gunman who was shooting outside was shooting at them.
- One officer said they didn't return fire so they wouldn't hit any kids, The New York Times reported.
A police officer had missed a chance to shoot the Uvalde school gunman because he was concerned he could hit children playing outside, The New York Times reported.
The incident was another missed opportunity for officers to apprehend the 18-year-old gunman before he entered Robb Elementary School. The shooting left 19 children and two adults dead.
On May 24, the gunman barricaded himself inside adjourned rooms inside the school as officers waited outside, not confronting the gunman. The police response to the shooting is being investigated by the Department of Justice, among others.
In the aftermath of the shooting, police changed their story on the timeline several times, prompting criticism on how long it took them to confront the gunman. It took more than an hour since the gunman entered the school until an officer finally confronted and shot him.
Zavala County Chief Deputy Ricardo Rios told the Times that two officers had arrived at the school before the gunman made it inside. The gunman they said was shooting outside, and police believed he was firing at them. They took cover behind a patrol car and held off on returning fire, even though one of them had a long gun.
"I asked him, 'Why didn't you shoot? Why didn't you engage?' And that's when he told me about the background," Rios said. "According to the officers, they didn't engage back because in the background there was kids playing and they were scared of hitting the kids."