The Uvalde massacre: What a failure to respond looks like

Three hundred seventy-six law enforcement officers arrived at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022, in response to an active shooter. Within hours, it was clear that something had gone very wrong with that response.

Why had it taken 77 minutes for officers to confront and kill the teenage shooter from the time he entered the school through an unlocked door? It’s a question that remains unanswered one year since the massacre, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.

Various accounts of the events and actions that were given by officials were sometimes misleading or just plain wrong. With still no full accounting, CNN analyzed hours of body camera and surveillance video, as well as radio and phone calls obtained by CNN, to piece together what happened, minute by minute.

This timeline shows the initial action – and then the almost immediate loss of impetus – to get to the gunman. It shows how quickly senior officers arrived and the key moments that should have changed everything, but which were ignored: the school police officer saying his wife was shot; a child trapped with the gunman calling 911 for help; even a burst of gunfire dispelling any notion the shooter was dead.