Border agent who stormed Robb Elementary with borrowed shotgun defends police actions

The Uvalde Police Department has been criticised for not immediately rushing into the school to stop the shooter

An off-duty Border Patrol agent who rushed into Robb Elementary School on the day of the Uvalde mass shooting said he believed the city's police force "were doing everything" they could on the day of the attack.

The Uvalde Police Department has received widespread condemnation after officers shifted their tactics the day of the mass shooting, treating the 18-year-old gunman as a barricaded suspect rather than as an active shooter. That decision allowed the gunman to stay in a classroom inside the school for 90 minutes, during which time he killed 19 students and two teachers.

Jacob Albarado, a Border Patrol agent, was getting a haircut the day of the shooting. He was off-duty at the time, but received a text from his wife — a teacher at Robb Elementary — saying there was an active shooter and asking him to help.

Mr Albarado borrowed his barber's shotgun and ran to the school to help.

He told CBS News that he knew some of the officers in the Uvalde Police Department and believed they were doing what they could in the situation.

"I can't speak on their behalf, on what they were doing and how they were assessing the situation because I wasn't there. I wasn't trying to breach the door. I don't know what was happening in their mind," he said. "I know my fellow officers and, to me, I believe they were doing everything in their power they could do."

Mr Albarado was allowed to enter the school because he knew members of the department, and he rushed in to find his wife and daughter. His wife had already fled the school, and his daughter was safely locked away in a bathroom when he arrived. He stayed at the scene and assisted officers as they cleared classrooms.

Despite his faith in the police department, the Uvalde police are facing an investigation into their response by the Texas Department of Public Safety. A source speaking to ABC News claimed the department had stopped cooperating with the Texas DPS after Texas DPS official Steven McCraw said the police made mistakes in their response to the shooting.

Pedro "Pete" Arredondo, the Uvalde schools police chief, was the commanding officer at the scene and claims that he is in "daily" contact with the Texas DPS. It is unclear what exactly "contact" means.

In the days following the attack, the initial law enforcement reports from the scene have unravelled. Reporters were told that the gunman encountered a school resource officer upon arriving and exchanged shots with the officer. That proved untrue — the resource officer was not at the school at the time of the shooting.

The Texas DPS also claimed that a teacher left a door propped open, which the gunman used to enter the school. The teacher's attorney spoke out and corrected the record, saying the teacher actually kicked a rock holding the door open away and closed the door due to the dangerous situation playing out. She believed the door locked automatically, but it did not.

The Texas DPS later confirmed her story despite originally placing the blame on her for leaving the door open.