Texas DPS: Students and teachers called 911 while police waited

UVALDE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The Texas DPS Director made no bones about it. He said officers at the scene made the wrong decision by not going into the classroom.

Steven McCraw said, "The scene commander considered it a barricaded subject and that at the time there were no more children at risk. Obviously, based upon the information we have there were children in that classroom that were at risk."

Simply put, McCraw said the incident command officer did not believe there was still an active shooter situation.

He said officers though they were only dealing with a barricaded gunman.

McCraw also said that within four minutes of entering the classroom, the gunman fired over 100 rounds.

And then there was a long pause of no gunshots -- silence.

But that was not the end of the shooting.

During the time that officers were waiting for a tactical team to arrive, teachers and students inside were calling 911. One teacher whispered over the phone that she was in room 112, then called back minutes later, whispering that eight or nine students were still alive.

A student also called with a plea for help.

"The initial child called back and was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. She told 911 to one that he shot the door to the proctor 1243 and 1247 she asked 911 to please send the police now," said McCraw.

And this raises the question as to why those 911 calls were not communicated to the officers at the scene.

The DPS director said that is part of their investigation.

CBS 11 News also learned today that there were warning signs from the gunman dating as far back as February, when in an online chat he discussed being a school shooter.