Children inside a Texas elementary school frantically called 911, begging for the police to save them, as a tactical decision by a commander kept 19 officers from storming a classroom in what a law enforcement officials acknowledged on Friday was a mistake in judgment.

“Of course, it wasn’t the right decision,” Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said at a news conference, choking back tears. “It was the wrong decision. Period.”

With 19 officers, McCraw said, there were “plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done.” But the commander inside — Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde Consolidated School District chief of police — decided the team needed more equipment and officers to enter the classroom where the shooter was holed up. He said the team did not move to take out the gunman until a full Border Patrol tactical unit arrived.

Nineteen children and two teachers died in the massacre Tuesday.

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