The Border Patrol agent who killed the gunman that opened fire at a school in Texas had a close call with a bullet, according to a photo.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin tweeted, “This is the hat the elite, veteran BORTAC Border Patrol agent was wearing when he breached the classroom with a tactical team and engaged/killed the Uvalde school shooter, a CBP source tells me.”
He added, “Graze wound to head. Many BP agents in Uvalde have kids at the school.”
NEW: This is the hat the elite, veteran BORTAC Border Patrol agent was wearing when he breached the classroom with a tactical team and engaged/killed the Uvalde school shooter, a CBP source tells me. Graze wound to head. Many BP agents in Uvalde have kids at the school. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/924WCOZjsK
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 25, 2022
The photo of the hat shows a hole in the mesh of it at the top.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press the Border Patrol agent killed the gunman after rushing the school without waiting for backup, as IJR reported.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in what is now the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement many CBP agents live in Uvalde, Texas, where the shooting took place.
“CBP responded immediately to the incident with local law enforcement,” Magnus said in a statement earlier this week.
He continued, “Many of our local CBP personnel live in Uvalde; they call this community home, and they work to protect their families, friends and neighbors every single day.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas expressed his appreciation for the border patrol agents who rushed to the scene of the shooting.
“We are grateful for the courageous members of our Border Patrol, many of whom are part of the Uvalde and surrounding communities, who immediately responded to the scene along with local and state law enforcement. Without hesitation, they put themselves between the shooter and students to end the bloodshed and administer medical aid,” Mayorkas said in a statement.
According to Mayorkas, the DHS will continue to work alongside “federal, state and local” law enforcement in the aftermath of the shooting.
CNN reported the gunman was in the school for up to an hour before law enforcement entered the room where he barricaded himself.
“It’s going to be within, like 40 minutes or something, (within) an hour,” Texas Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw told CNN’s Ed Lavandera.
He explained, “And then (the shooting) stops, and he barricades himself in. That’s where there’s kind of a lull in the action.”
Lavandera continued, “All of it, I understand, lasted about an hour, but this is where there’s kind of a 30-minute lull. They feel as if they’ve got him barricaded in. The rest of the students in the school are now leaving.”
