Salvador Ramos jumped out of hiding place in closet to shoot officers before his death
UVALDE, TEXAS: The 18-year-old Texas shooter Salvador Ramos who brutally murdered 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday, May 24, rushed out of a closet and shot at US Customs and Border Protection tactical officers as they approached the classroom where he had barricaded himself. According to the reports, the officials returned fire and killed Ramos, putting an end to his reign of terror.
An anonymous CBP official told The Washington Post that the gunman emerged from his hiding spot and opened fire shortly after two Customs and Border Protection BORTAC agents, a Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue agent, and at least one sheriff's deputy entered the classroom around 12:50 pm holed up behind a tactical shield. An off-duty BORTAC agent was the first to arrive outside of the “quiet” classroom at 12:15 pm and found several local police officers in the hallway there, the CBP official told The Washington Post. They took at least 40-minutes to implement their strategy because law enforcement was devising a plan.
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Local officers told the off-duty agent that bullet holes in the classroom door were caused by Ramos firing at them. The agent devised a tactical plan to gain an entry and CBP reinforcements came about 15 minutes later, according to the source. Two federal law enforcement officials told NBC News that the other BORTAC agents, as well as members of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations section, were late entering the classroom because local police urged them to wait outside the school when they arrived. Instead, the HSI agents were asked to assist in the retrieval of youngsters from the windows. The agents from both agencies, however, fought local law enforcement and entered the school after around 30 minutes, according to the report.
How was Salvador Ramos killed?
The agents used a ballistic shield given by a US Marshal instead of a battering ram to break through the classroom door. According to the insider, determining who had control over the operation was challenging. “They have not told me they were frustrated,” the official shared. “But they told me it was hard to discern who was in charge.”
With the tiny crew collected outside, the first BORTAC agent intended to burst the door and get to the gunman right away. Meanwhile, CBP and other law enforcement authorities reportedly removed children and personnel from other classes. Officers requested a key to access the classroom, which took 40 minutes to an hour to obtain from a janitor, according to reports.
According to The Washington Post, the agent claimed he heard no rounds fired at that time. An official stated that the squad entered "within minutes" after receiving the key. They arrived at 12:50 p.m., according to officials.
At 11:28 am, May 24, Ramos' Ford pickup slammed into a ditch behind the Texas school and he jumped out carrying an AR-15-style rifle. Twelve minutes after that, authorities say, Ramos was in the school hallways and then entered a fourth-grade classroom, where he killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers. At 12:58 pm, law enforcement radio chatter confirmed Ramos had been killed and the siege was over.