The gunman who shot and killed 19 children and two teachers inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, dropped a black bag full of ammunition outside of the school when he was “engaged” by the school resource officer (SRO), Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said.
When the shooter arrived at the school, he was encountered by the SRO who saw him carrying the large black bag, he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room.
“Inside that bag was actually more ammunition. He actually dropped that ammunition and ran inside the school where he barricaded himself inside one of the classrooms and unfortunately, that is where he started conducting his business of shooting innocent children, shooting the two innocent adults that were inside that classroom,” he said.
The shooter dropped the bag during that interaction and ran inside the school, Estrada said.
DPS is still investigating what happened during that interaction, but during an earlier conference, DPS Director Steven McCraw said that no shots were fired in that interaction.
Estrada spoke of the heartbreak in the community following the mass shooting.
“I’m a father of two children,” Estrada said. “It took me a while to even step out my vehicle and know what I was about to see inside that school.”