Texas attacker entered the school “without being obstructed”

Texas Public Security Department spokesman Victor Escalon has said that no armed guard has challenged the teenager and is still unknown whether the school door was locked.

Escalon has defended police officials after increasing criticism that they have been late to face the attacker.

The media have quoted several witnesses as saying police have been reluctant to confront the killer inside the school in Uvalde.

Escalon has said the initial reports the attacker has killed the guard have been incorrect.

He has said officials have entered school four minutes after the attacker has been there.

“They didn't enter immediately because of the” bullets, Escalon told reporters.

It's been about an hour before the assailant was killed, respectively, after the arrival of tactical teams of the United States Border Patrol.

The attacker has killed 19 students and two teachers, and has injured at least 17 other people.

Some videos that family members are hearing about are published on social networks, begging the police to enter the school immediately.

One father, whose daughter died in the attack, has told the Associated Press news agency that he has thought of entering school because of his anger at the police response.

A mother has told the Wall Street Journal daily that for a while she has been handcuffed, accusing of obstructing police investigation, as she and several other parents have asked to enter the building.

Escalon said that during the time police were outside the school, they requested more reinforcements and “have evacuated students and teachers”.

After he crashed the truck near the school, the gunman shot two men who have been leaving a funeral home.

The suspect has then crossed a fence and launched attacks on the school building, Escalon said.

When approaching entry, “ai has not faced anyone”, the police official said.

According to regulations in the Uvalde district, authorities must have officials patrolling entrances, parking lots and the school perimeter.

Teachers are told to keep their doors locked all the time.

We'll try to learn as much as we can why the door wasn't locked. Maybe it was closed. But now it doesn't seem like it was”, Escalon said.

Congresswoman from Texas Joachim Castro has sent a letter to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for agents to investigate how officials have responded to law enforcement, the attack while it was happening.

Officials have said they do not know yet how many bullets the teenager fired during the attack, but one source has told CBS News network that the attacker had 600 bullets.

This amount is greater than double the bullets American soldiers carry, the source said, adding that the attacker has prepared for a long battle with the police.

Investigators have found no evidence that the attacker had history of mental illness or questionable past.

He bought two rifles a week before the attack, shortly after he turned 18.

US President Joe Biden and the First Lady will visit Uvalden on Sunday, the White House has announced.

In many US regions, students have protested gun violence in schools. / REL