FILE - Flowers are placed around a welcome sign outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)FILE - Flowers are placed around a welcome sign outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)(AP) — Two Uvalde city police officers told a sheriff’s deputy that they passed up a fleeting chance to shoot the gunman for fear of hitting children outside an elementary school where the gunman killed 21 people. The gunman went on to enter Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24 and open fire, killing 19 children and two teachers. Chief Deputy Ricardo Rios of nearby Zavala County told The New York Times of speaking to two unidentified officers, one of whom was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, who said they had seen the gunman firing from outside the school. When Rios asked why the officers didn’t shoot, they said children were playing in the background in the line of fire.

Source: ABC News June 19, 2022 20:43 UTC