Texas shooter inside school for an hour, remembering Ray Liotta: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Texas shooter was inside school for an hour before police stopped him

There are more questions than answers about why police responded so slowly. Plus, the NRA doesn't move its conference, wellness reporter Jenna Ryu gives some tips on dealing with narcissistic people, we remember Ray Liotta and money reporter Medora Lee looks at the latest impact of inflation on food prices.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson And this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 27th of May, 2022. Today, more details about how the Texas shooter entered the school. Plus remembering Ray Liotta and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday that he wants GOP lawmakers to work with Democrats on a legislative solution to address this week's Texas elementary school shooting. It's not clear which measures he would support.

2. A gun and a loaded magazine were found in a second grade student's desk at a Sacramento, California school. Police believe there is no evidence the student intended to hurt anyone.

3. And Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution yesterday that would've imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea. The resolution came after a recent series of missile launches from the North.

♦

Texas state police have launched an examination of law enforcement's response to the Uvalde Texas shooting massacre this week. Officials acknowledged yesterday that the gunman was never confronted by officers before entering Robb Elementary School and was inside the building for an hour before being killed. Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Victor Escalon.

Victor Escalon:

According to the information I have, he went in at 11:40. He walks, and I'm going to approximate, 20 feet, 30 feet. He makes a right. He walks into the hallway. He makes a right. Walks another 20 feet. Turns left into a school room, into a classroom that has doors open in the middle. Officers are there. The initial officers, they receive gunfire. Approximately an hour later, US border patrol tactical teams arrive. They make entry. Shoot and kill the suspect.

Taylor Wilson:

Authorities' latest version is different from initial reports that an armed school resource officer engaged the gunman. Instead, he simply walked through an unlocked door. Details of what happened next are still being uncovered this week. But we know the shooter barricaded himself in a fourth grade classroom that became a killing field. He would go on to murder 19 children and two teachers. Under longstanding practices, responding officers are urged to confront active shooters immediately to prevent loss of life. That became standard procedure after the 1999 Columbine High School mass shooting. Authorities in Texas said yesterday that officers helped evacuate students and teachers from other parts of the school, while calls went out for more fire power and personnel.

When asked whether officers should have stormed the classroom earlier, Escalon, who you heard said, "That's a tough question." Authorities say, the shooter first crashed his car, then shot at two witnesses at a nearby funeral home and indiscriminately shot toward the school as well. Twelve minutes later, he entered the school through an unlocked side door and eventually into the classroom, which was unlocked, as well. Before all that, he shot his grandmother in the face and stole her truck. Horrified parents who had arrived at the school, screamed and pleaded with officers to storm the building.

We're also learning more about the children who were killed this week. Vincent Salazar lost his 11 year old daughter, Layla.

Vincent Salazar:

So yeah, she was excited for the summer. We were going to go to the zoo and maybe travel to Illinois to see some family and stuff. But obviously, after what happened, it's not going to happen now. It's going to be hard, but we have each other. And we've got a great support system. So we're just going to lean on that, as best we can. It's always going to be there, but she's in our hearts, she's in our minds, that can't be taken away from us.

Taylor Wilson:

The National Rifle Association will be holding its annual convention in Houston this weekend, despite this week's devastating shooting in Texas. Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the event today, but audience members will not be allowed to carry guns. The Secret Service is taking hold of the hall during Trump's speech, and will not allow firearms or knives, among other items, according to the NRA. That policy though is not related to the Uvalde school shooting and was also in place when Vice President Mike Pence made an appearance at the 2018 convention. This year's forum will also feature Texas governor Greg Abbott and Texas senator Ted Cruz. Both have come under fire this week for their lax stances on gun control in the wake of the shooting. That includes democratic candidate for governor Beto O'Rourke, confronting the politicians this week.

Beto O'Rourke:

This is on you, until you choose to do something different. This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state, or they will continue to be killed, just like they were killed in Uvalde yesterday.

Taylor Wilson:

For more from Texas and on the national debate around gun reform, stay with USATODAY.com.

♦

When dealing with manipulative or narcissistic people in your life, the best option is to cut off contact and leave. But what if that's not possible? Wellness Reporter Jenna Ryu tells us about a method called "gray rocking" and how it can help.

Jenna Ryu:

So gray rocking is a communication strategy to set boundaries with the toxic or narcissistic people in your life, just because not everyone has the privilege to cut contact with, for example, toxic in-laws or even a co-parent. So the strategy of gray rocking involves being as disengaged and unresponsive as possible. And the goal is to make the person you're communicating with lose interest in you, or get bored. So some examples include just saying, "yes" or "no." Or "I didn't know that," or "thanks for telling me that." And the point is just to give them as little attention as possible.

Experts have said that the best method is to just completely cut contact out of people who are constantly manipulating you, or taking advantage of you, or just being toxic. However, as I've said, it's not always possible. So the second best option is to limit contact and set healthy boundaries. There are other alternatives, like you can defend yourself and yell back. However, experts have cautioned against that, just because even negative attention is attention, and it can feed into the manipulation tactics. So they say gray rocking is one of the better communication strategies for people who are in your life and toxic, but you want to minimize that contact with them.

I guess one thing that the experts I spoke to have stressed is that at first, gray rocking may seem like it's not working because the narcissistic person in your life may double down on the manipulation tactics they use, to provoke a reaction out of you, if you're just being boring and disengaging. But however, they said that in the long term, it does oftentimes work. It's just that in the short run, it may seem like it's not working. So there is that caveat.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find more of Jenna on Twitter at Ryu_Jenna. That's R-Y-U.

Taylor Wilson:

Ray Liotta has died. The actor became a gangster movie icon in Goodfellas and brought a baseball legend back to life in field of dreams, among other iconic roles. Adopted as a baby from an orphanage, Liotta grew up in New Jersey, playing sports before a drama teacher asked him to go out for a play his senior year of high school. He would go onto a major acting career sparked by playing real life criminal Henry Hill in Martin's Scorsese's 1990 hit, Goodfellas. His publicist said he died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic while filming the upcoming movie, Dangerous Waters. Ray Liotta was 67.

♦

Food prices keep soaring because of inflation, and that's taking its toll on Memorial Day barbecues this weekend. Money and Personal Finance eporter Madora Lee has more.

Madora Lee:

So Memorial Day is a big holiday where a lot of people like to have barbecues and celebrate. And this year, a lot of people are still going to do it. About 75% of Americans are still expected to celebrate. However, inflation, our unwanted guest, is going to be around this year. And this means that a lot of people are going to have to find ways to cut down. Everything is much more expensive. Everything from decorations to pretty much every food item on the picnic table.

If you like chips, you're in trouble, that's over 20% higher than last year. And that's just even based on April numbers. So we haven't even gotten more updated numbers. So they might even be more expensive now. And beef is a really big one, as well. And everyone's favorite, hot dogs. And even soft drinks. Soft drinks are up over 15% from last year. And beer, who doesn't like a good beer, cold beer on Memorial Day? That's up over 7%. And for the kids, they're out of luck because ice cream is up more than 8.5% this year. So pretty much everything is expensive this year. Even the bun on your hamburger, up 12.5%.

PJ Elliott:

That's insane. Is there anything people can do to try to offset the cost, even a little bit?

Madora Lee:

I think that this year, a lot of people are going to be shopping sales. That's always a good one. But they're also going to be using a lot more coupons. And unfortunately, for those people who are already being really squeezed, maybe they have a limited income, they may not even actually celebrate this year.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find Madora's story in today's episode description. Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week, wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Slow police response in Uvalde, Ray Liotta remembered: 5 Things podcast