Uvalde shooting: Robb Elementary School to be demolished, says mayor

City mayor says 'you can never ask a child or teacher to go back in that school'

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  Alanna De Leon writes the name of her friend, Annabelle Rodriguez, who died in the shooting. AFP

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  Pallbearers carry the coffin of Amerie Jo Garza into Sacred Heart Catholic Church. AP

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  Pallbearers carry the coffin of Amerie Jo Garza, who died in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. AFP

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  A memorial in Town Square, Uvalde, Texas, for victims of the Robb Elementary school shooting. Reuters

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  A woman places a rose on Layla Salazar’s memorial cross, who was one of the victims that died in the shooting. Reuters

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  Bags with brisket sandwiches and a snack that will be sold at a fundraiser for families of the victims. Reuters

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  Ashtyn Leigh, 18, hands a man a brisket meal. Reuters

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  A choir sings in front of the memorial. Reuters

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  People pray in front of memorial crosses. Reuters

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  Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the shooting. AFP

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  People visit a memorial for the victims. AFP

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  Flowers are left outside the school. AFP

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  Twenty-one empty chairs are seen outside of a daycare center as a memorial for the victims. AP Photo

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  Football teammates of Tess Mata, who died in the Texas school shooting, cry as they visit a makeshift memorial outside the Uvalde County Courthouse. AFP

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  A football teammate of shooting victim Tess Mata cries, supported by her mother. AFP

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  Texas police faced angry questions over why it took an hour to stop the gunman who murdered 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, as video emerged of desperate parents begging officers to storm the school. AFP

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  Activists join Senate Democrats outside the Capitol, in Washington, to demand action on gun control legislation after the killings at the Texas elementary school this week. AP

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  The George R Brown Convention Centre, site of the National Rifle Association annual convention. Days after the deadliest mass school shooting in Texas history, the gun lobbyist group is meeting in Houston, from Friday until Sunday. Reuters

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  Pastor Carlos Contreras preaches to his congregation as photos of some of the children killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary flash on the screen at Primera Iglesia Bautista, in Uvalde. Reuters

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  People march after a vigil held to stand with the Uvalde families and demand an end to gun violence in Newtown, Connecticut. AP

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  A woman holds up a banner at the end of the vigil in Newtown, Connecticut. AP

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  Newtown was the scene of the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when 20 pupils and six teachers were killed by a gunman. AP

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  Candles are lit for each victim as people pray at St Philip's Episcopal Church. EPA

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  A makeshift memorial in front of Robb Elementary School. AFP

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  Omahar Padillo with his son Omahar Jr, 12, during a community prayer, in Pharr, Texas, for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School. AP

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  Omahar Padillo Jr, 12, and his sister Samantha, 9, with their mother, Silvia Padillo, write messages in support of the victims at Robb Elementary School. AP

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  A vigil for the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. AFP

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  A young mourner at the vigil in Uvalde, Texas. AFP

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  Families at the vigil. AFP

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  A woman holds a photo of Nevaeh Bravo, who was killed in the mass shooting, during a vigil for the victims of the massacre in Uvalde, Texas. AFP

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  Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco is comforted by Senator Ted Cruz during a vigil at the Uvalde County Fairplex Arena. AP

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  Diana Karau of Uvalde with a therapy dog named Tritan before a vigil to honour those killed at Robb Elementary. AP

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  Gun-control advocates Dana Cibulski, left, and Judi Giannini attend a vigil outside the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. AFP

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  Uziyah Garcia, 8, was among those killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. AP

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  Pastor Jaime Cabralez, the uncle of shooting victim 10-year-old Eliahana Cruz Torres, is surrounded in prayer at his church in Uvalde, Texas on Wednesday. Reuters

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  A woman embraces a child outside Willie de Leon Civic Centre, in Uvalde, where pupils were taken after the school shooting. Bloomberg

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  Gun-control advocates hold a vigil outside the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. AFP

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  A woman and child leave the Civic Centre. Reuters

Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — where a teenage gunman killed 19 children and two teachers — will be demolished, the city's mayor said on Tuesday.

The announcement came a few hours after a senior Texas official called the police response to the shooting “an abject failure” and accused a commander of putting the lives of officers over those of the children.

“You can never ask a child to go back or teacher to go back in that school ever,” said Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.

He did not say when the school would be demolished.

In a separate Texas state Senate hearing into the May 24 shooting, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) director Steven McCraw said the on-site commander made “terrible decisions” and officers at the scene lacked sufficient training, costing valuable time during which lives may have been saved.

“There is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we have learnt,” Mr McCraw said.

Many parents and relatives of the children and staff have expressed deep anger over police action after the gunman entered the school and began shooting.

One delay Mr McCraw discussed was the search for a key to the classroom where the shooting occurred. He said the door was not locked and there was no evidence officers tried to open it while others searched for a key.

“There is no way … for the subject to lock the door from the inside,” Mr McCraw said.

Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where two teachers and 19 pupils were killed in a mass shooting, will be demolished. AP

Days after the shooting, the Texas DPS said as many as 19 officers waited for more than an hour in a hallway outside classrooms 111 and 112 before a US Border Patrol-led tactical team made entry. Mr McCraw repeated that in the hearing on Tuesday.

“The officers had weapons, the children had none. The officers had body armour, the children had none. The officers had training, the subject had none," he said.

"One hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds — that is how long the children waited, and the teachers waited, in Room 111 to be rescued.

“Three minutes after the subject entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armour to isolate, distract and neutralise the subject.

“The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111, and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children."

Mr McCraw said the scene commander, Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo, “waited for radio and rifles, and he waited for shields and he waited for Swat. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed”.

Mr Arredondo did not address either of the two hearings on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Mr Arredondo said he never considered himself incident commander at the scene of the shooting. He said he did not order police to hold back from breaching the building.

At the city council meeting on Tuesday night, Mr McLaughlin accused Mr McCraw of deflecting blame from state police.

“Every briefing he leaves out the number of his own officers and rangers that were on scene that day,” the mayor said.

“Col McCraw has an agenda and it is not to present a full report on what happened and to give factual answers to the families of this community.”

Mr McLaughlin said state officials were leaving the city and its residents in the dark. “The gloves are off,” he said.

Uvalde police chief Pete Arredondo 'waited for radio and rifles, and he waited for shields and he waited for Swat. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed', said Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw

Greg Abbott, Texas's Republican Governor, said he wanted all facts regarding the shooting released to the victims' families and the public as quickly as possible.

The Uvalde City Council voted unanimously late on Tuesday to deny a leave of absence for Mr Arredondo as a council member.

Mr Arredondo won election to the council shortly before the shooting but has not appeared at the two meetings since then. Denying him a leave of absence sets up his potential departure as a council member if he misses a third consecutive meeting.

Mr Arredondo told the Texas Tribune he left his two radios outside the school because he wanted his hands free to hold his gun.

He had said he called for tactical gear, a sniper and keys to get inside, holding back from the doors for 40 minutes to avoid provoking sprays of gunfire.

Community members, along with parents of the victims, urged Mr Arredondo to resign during an impassioned school board meeting on Monday, ABC News reported.