Page 21 - A Plus News Today

purpose, to kill a lot of human beings quickly. an assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society. >> after back to back mass shootings, republicans are looking elsewhere for answers. just in the last two days, gop senators ted cruz and ron johnson and former president donald trump floated a laundry list of reasons for the countrys mass shooting epidemic. here they are, they include video games, social media, wokeness, critical race theory, absent fathers,...

elementary school, could have, should have been confronted sooner. parents demanding answers. why? why were police reluctant to immediately engage with the gunman? one explanation the texas department of public safety initially gave to cnn is that the officers could have been shot or killed, but we now know the mind-set goes directly against texas protocol for school shooter situations, which uvalde police trained for just two months ago. the manual states as first responders, we must ...

do something about it. i beg you. >> show it to the world. when he died, i died with him. >> you cannot out law tragedy but we can make america safer. we can do what we have to do to protect the lives of our people and our children. >> im pamela brown in washington. youre live in the cnn newsroom. ch its memorial day weekend, a time to honor men and women who died served in military. this year the nation approaches this holiday in grief and shock after two horrific mass shootings ove...

>> we dont understand exactly what happened, but i think that they should have gone in and secured that -- >> are you saying that your brother went inside when he first arrived at the school and stayed inside and did not retreat as some have suggested? >> right. they did not retreat, and so the shooter was down. they were in there that entire time. >> a bit of hindsight where im sitting now, of course it was not the right decision, it was the wrong decision. there is no excuse for that...

elementary school. she saw her teacher killed. for the first time we learn what the killer said before he fired his gun in that classroom. we hear new details about what he did, this witness says he played music during the massacre. and we learn what this brave 11-year-old did to stay alive while it was all happening. all of this at the top of the next hour. in the meantime, the police response to the tragedy that took place here is facing intense scrutiny and there are new questions...

why officers failed to enter the school while the attacker was still firing. those shots audible from the outside. heres what we do know at 11:8 a.m. central time, the suspect crashed into a ditch near the school. there is a picture there. he exited the vehicle and fired at two witnesses across the street. at 11:40 a.m., he entered through the west side of the building. there is the video there. two minutes later a teacher sent a text message saying there was an active shooter at the s...

even though he was firing shots outside for some 12 minutes, there are so many unanswered questions. here is what we do know. 11:28 a.m. central time the suspect crashed his truck into a ditch near the school. he exited the vehicle, fired at two witnesses across the street. at 11:40 a.m. the gunman entered the school through an unlocked door on the west side of the building. four minutes later, officers entered the school, received gunfire then retreated from the building as they calle...

still chief among the questions out there and why is the police department now backtracking on some of their basic findings? officials are going to be holding a briefing in texas in the next hour. lets begin though at this hour with cnns rosa flores live in uvalde. rosa, what are you hearing from some of these children who managed to survive? >> reporter: well, kate, we are hearing about those intense moments when the shooter was inside the classroom, those intense moments when childre...

teachers were slaughtered. they took no action to get into those classrooms as they waited for more equipment. we pressed for more of an explanation, and the response was devastating. listen. >> reporter: sir, you have people who are alive, children who are calling 9-1-1 saying please, send the please. they are alive in that classroom. there are lives that are at risk. thats not protocol, is it? >> were well aware of that. >> reporter: right, but why was this decision made not to go in...

it was not the right decision. it was the wrong decision, period. theres no excuse for that. again, i wasnt there, but im just telling you from what we know, we believe there should have been an entry as soon as you can. hey, when theres an active shooter the rules change. its no longer -- okay, its no longer barricaded. you dont have time. and, by the way, texas embraces active shooter training, active shooter certification, and that doctrine requires officers, we dont care what agenc...