A child pleaded for help on an emergency call inside Robb Elementary School during the shooting that killed 21, including 19 children, according to newly released audio.
CNN obtained footage of the recording from an anonymous individual who recorded the call on his Facebook Live, CNN correspondent Nick Valencia said. The audio is reportedly part of radio traffic of Customs and Border Protection, who turned down the audio once they realized the anonymous person could hear it.
“Are you injured?” an adult inside the building asked.
“I got shot,” a child said.
“Where? Where?” the adult asked. The rest of the recording is inaudible.
Valencia told hosts Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto that the timing of the call is currently unknown and added that it shows there were victims inside that could have been saved if law enforcement took quicker action. (RELATED: New Details Shed New Light Into What Police Did And Didn’t Do During Texas School Shooting)
“It gives us insight into the chaos surrounding the moments that this shooting was taking place,” Valencia said. “This gives us further insight and is just further evidence that we hear children pleading for help inside that classroom waiting for police to show up and they just didn’t arrive in time. It leads many to believe that there were victims inside who could’ve been saved but potentially bled out while they were waiting for officers to enter the elementary school.”
Texas Department of Safety director Steven McCraw told reporters Friday that 19 officers first arrived at the scene at 11:35 a.m. where the alleged gunman, Salvador Ramos, barricaded himself in a fourth grade classroom. The director said officers waited outside the room for more equipment to perform a “tactical breach” as children repeatedly called 911 pleading for help.
A child made a 23-second phone call to authorities at 12:03 p.m. identifying herself and what room she was in, McCraw told reporters. She called back 7 minutes later telling officers that multiple people were dead. At 12:21, three shots were fired over the emergency call, the New York Times reported. At 12:50, more shots could be heard over a separate 911 call.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was “misled” by police reports and called it “inexcusable” that families of the victims were given inaccurate information.
“There are people who deserve answers the most, and those are the families whose lives have been destroyed,” the governor continued. “They need answers that are accurate and it is inexcusable that they may have suffered from any inaccurate information whatsoever. And it is imperative that the leaders of the investigations about exactly what happened get down to the very second of exactly what happened with 100 percent accuracy.”