Texas Shooting Gunman Entered School ‘Unobstructed,’ Concerned Parent Was Reportedly Handcuffed

New information continues to come in regarding the elementary school shooting in Texas.

Per a report from regional NBC outlet KXAS, the state’s Department of Public Safety said Thursday that the gunman in the attack—since identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos—entered the school “unobstructed,” meaning he did not initially come into contact with school-affiliated officers or other law enforcement personnel.

As previously reported, including by the Associated Press, police’s response to the shooting at Robb Elementary—which left 19 children and two teachers dead—has been questioned and criticized. Adding to questions surrounding the law enforcement response is a Wall Street Journal piece featuring comments from parent Angeli Rose Gomez. According to Gomez, who drove to the school out of concern for her children, police “were doing nothing” when she arrived.

Following several minutes of pleading with law enforcement to take action, Gomez said, she was placed in handcuffs by federal marshals. When she was released from the handcuffs, Gomez is said to have hopped the fence and made it inside, at which point she grabbed her children and “sprinted out of the school with them.”

Read more on the situation, including comments from Gomez about having witnessed other parents receiving similar treatment from law enforcement, at this link. 

In an initial statement in response to the shooting, which marks the 27th school shooting this year alone, President Joe Biden urged those in the U.S. to ask themselves a question.

“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” he said.

Amid ongoing coverage of the shooting, many have pointed to recent gun-related political developments in Texas, including Gov. Greg Abbott’s signing of a permitless carry bill last summer. In a press release at the time, Abbott touted the state as “the leader in defending the Second Amendment” with a “barrier around gun rights.”