“My understanding, after talking to several officers that were there, was that the gunman engaged two City of Uvalde officers when they got there, outside the building,” Chief Deputy Rios said.

He said the two officers, including one with the long gun, took cover behind a patrol car. They wanted to return fire, he said, but held off.

Chief Deputy Rios, recounting his conversation with one of the officers, said that he was surprised and replied with a blunt question.

“I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you shoot? Why didn’t you engage?’ And that’s when he told me about the background,” he said. “According to the officers, they didn’t engage back because in the background there was kids playing and they were scared of hitting the kids.”