‘Potential intruder’ fatally shot outside Alabama school

In the wake of reports that armed law enforcement experts were slow to take action against the killer with an AR-15 during the May 24 massacre in the Robb Elementary School, Robert Tyler White, 32, was shot and killed by police after he allegedly reached for an Alabama school resource officer’s gun.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said White, of Bunnlevel, N.C., was killed Thursday morning near Walnut Park Elementary School in Gadsden, a city located about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham.

Gadsden City Schools Superintendent Tony Reddick said that a “potential intruder” tried to open several doors of the school where 34 students were attending a summer literacy program.

Once alerted to the situation, the principal ensured the school was secure and then contacted the school resource officer who confronted the suspect outside along with a Rainbow City police officer who arrived on the scene.

A physical altercation ensued, police claimed, and the suspect was shot and killed. The resource officer, officials said, received minor injuries.

Pete Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde school district was widely criticized after he spent more than an hour in the hallway of Robb Elementary School.

He called for tactical gear, a sniper and keys to get inside, holding back from the doors for 40 minutes to avoid provoking sprays of gunfire. When keys arrived, he tried dozens of them, but one by one they failed to work.

“Each time I tried a key I was just praying,” Arredondo said. Finally, 77 minutes after the massacre began, officers were able to unlock the door and fatally shoot the gunman.

Whether the inability of the Uvalde police to quickly enter the classroom prevented the 21 victims — 19 students and two educators — from getting life-saving care is not known, and may never be.

There’s evidence, including the fact that a teacher died while being transported to the hospital, that suggests taking down the shooter faster might have made a difference. On the other hand, many of the victims likely died instantly.

A pediatrician who attended to the Robb Elementary School victims described small bodies “pulverized” and “decapitated.”

Some children were identifiable only by their clothes and shoes.