Border agents took matters into their own hands to stop TX school killer hiding in closet

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'Let’s get this done': Border agents took matters into their own hands to stop Texas school killer hiding in closet

Federal agents ignored orders from local police and went after the shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, according to reports Friday.

Border Patrol agents took matters into their own hands after waiting roughly 30 minutes to lead a "stack" formation of officers inside Robb Elementary School, federal law enforcement officials told NBC News.

A member of BORTAC, or the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, has been credited with fatally shooting the gunman, identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, who had barricaded himself in a classroom.

An off-duty BORTAC agent was the first to arrive. The agent “basically said let’s get this done" and began planning a way into the room, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told the Washington Post. More BORTAC agents arrived around 15 minutes later, and within minutes of getting a key to unlock the door, a variety of law enforcement officers followed a leading BORTAC agent holding a ballistic shield provided by a U.S. marshal.

The same source said the shooter was hiding in a closet at the time and burst out firing at the officials, who returned fire and killed Ramos. One BORTAC agent received minor injuries after his head was grazed by a bullet and his foot struck by shrapnel.

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed. The report noted that agents saw children piled up and huddled together around the room, some of them alive and others dead.

The gunman had at least 15 bullet holes in him after being shot by BORTAC agents and local law enforcement, senior U.S. law enforcement officials told NBC News.

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, has been identified as the official who stopped at least 19 officers from barging into the school for up to an hour to stop the shooter. Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday that the delay, based on the view that there was not an active threat, was a "wrong decision."

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EXCLUSIVE: Police Initially Lacked Ballistic Shield Needed to Reach Barricaded Texas School Shooter

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