Uvalde school shooting audio reveals pupil's call to police during Texas massacre

'How far are y'all away?' girl asks emergency dispatcher as police botch response

Pupils arrive at Uvalde Elementary for the first day of school in Uvalde, Texas. Two teachers and 19 children were killed in the May 24 mass shooting at a different school. AP

The children are not returning to the scene of the massacre. Their old school, Robb Elementary, will be demolished, the town's mayor has said. AP

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

Texas Department of Public Safety officers and school personnel from Flores Elementary School greet pupils as they return after the summer break. Reuters

Some parents have opted to keep their children out of school entirely and will educate them at home. AP

A 2.4-metre-tall fence surrounds Uvalde Elementary School. AP

President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan gun control bill in July designed to keep weapons out of the hands of those deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others. AP

Personnel from Uvalde Elementary School greet pupils as they return after the summer break. Reuters

A Texas state trooper stands watch as pupils are dropped off at Uvalde Elementary for the first day of school. AP

Workers continue construction on a new fence in Uvalde, Texas. AP

The May 24 massacre was one of several mass shootings that brought about fresh calls for gun control legislation. Reuters

A teacher hugs a pupil arriving at Uvalde Elementary for the first day of school. AP

Texas Governor Greg Abbott passes in front of a memorial outside Robb Elementary School to honour the victims killed. AP

Following the school shooting, governors around the country vowed to take steps to ensure children would be kept safe. AP

Retired teachers visit a memorial honouring the school shooting victims. AP

Brownsville school superintendent Rene Gutierrez adds a banner to a makeshift memorial that honours the victims of the school shooting. AP

A 'Uvalde Strong' message is posted in front of the Uvalde County Mental Health building. AP

New audio from an emergency 911 call released on Wednesday captured a 10-year-old girl pleading with the dispatcher to “please get help” while trapped in a Uvalde, Texas, classroom with the gunman who killed 19 of her classmates and two teachers.

The call from Khloie Torres, obtained by CNN, further highlights the failure by police to quickly respond to the scene at Robb Elementary School, as officers took almost an hour to storm the classroom.

Khloie, now 11, survived the massacre.

Whispering to the dispatcher, Khloie can be heard asking police to come to the school quickly, saying: “There's a lot of dead bodies.”

At 12.10pm, she told the dispatcher: “I'm in classroom … 112.

“Please send help.”

It was one of three times she desperately called 911 asking for help.

At 12.15pm, she told the operator that her teacher, Eva Mireles, had been shot but was alive, and asked for an ambulance. Mireles later died and was one of two educators who were killed.

Two minutes later, she asked: “How far are y'all away?”

By that point, about 400 officers had arrived at the scene but had yet to confront the gunman.

The many police departments that responded to the scene faced sharp criticism following the shooting — the school's police force has been suspended and police leaders, as well as the city and school district, have been named in federal charges.

Police said they had mistakenly thought the suspect was barricaded and not actively shooting.

One officer, who was at the scene for more than 20 minutes, was not aware that children were injured.

Khloie later told police she had used her teacher's phone to make the emergency call and that her father had taught her “how to handle these situations”.