New photos of a head wound sustained by the brave Border Patrol agent, who stormed Robb Elementary School and killed the 18-year-old shooter, along with his bullet-riddled baseball, have been published.
The agent who is credited with killing Salvador Ramos, is believed to be from the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC), which is made up of 240 agents who deal with risky work on the US border, including raids.
The photo of the officer’s head showing stitches and a bloody scrape was first reported by the Washington Examiner.
Another photo shows the officer’s bullet-riddled white mesh cap and a tear where the shooter’s bullet presumably tore it.
The anonymous officer and two of his colleagues responded to reports of an active shooter in Uvalde after hearing a call about the incident on a local police radio.
It turned out that they were nearby to take part in an operation to search drug “hiding places”.
Public Safety Department Lt. Christopher Olivarez told CNN the shooter barricaded himself inside a single classroom and that it is inside that classroom that most or all 19 children and two teachers were killed.
As the school shooting began, Ramos was “hired” by both a school district police officer and then two city police officers who were first on the scene, a public safety officer said. from Texas to CNN.
These officers were unable to arrest Ramos and called in reinforcements from nearby police and Border Patrol units.
Marsha Espinosa, spokeswoman for Homeland Security, said multiple Border and other officers entered the building and “encountered gunfire from the subject, who was barricaded inside.”
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol agents and other officers placed themselves between the shooter and the children at the scene to distract the shooter from potential victims and save lives,” she said. declared.
“Risking their own lives, these Border Patrol agents and other officers placed themselves between the shooter and the children at the scene to distract the shooter from potential victims and save lives,” she said. declared.
Initially, BORTAC officers were unable to enter the classroom because Ramos was behind a barricade consisting of a steel door and a cinder block construction that was fighting back, the WSJ reported.
But officers were able to get a master key from the school principal allowing them to enter the room and managed to shoot and kill the shooter before he could cause further casualties.
During the shootout with the injured officer, who is assigned to the Del Rio area in South Texas, he was shot and injured in the leg, but was not otherwise injured.
In total, the three BORTAC agents were among 80 Border Patrol agents who responded to the mass shooting.
BORTAC is headquartered in El Paso, Texas, which explains the unusual tactical unit officer presence.
Many agents live in Uvalde themselves.
“Uvalde is their home, they’re their neighbors, they had kids that went to that school,” senior Border Patrol official Jason Owens told The Wall Street Journal.
“We had officers responding to this incident knowing that their child was missing in this incident. We have officers whose families have been affected by this event.
The unit is unique in that it conducts training and operations both in the United States and in other countries “as part of the mission of the US Border Patrol”, according to US Customs and Border. Protection.
Potentially dozens more children would have been killed had the BORTAC agent not intervened, with the killer claiming the lives of 19 children and two teachers before being caught.
