At least 21 people are dead after a gunman opened fire in Uvalde on Tuesday, authorities said.

Most of the victims were children in their last week of school before the summer break. Many other students and adults were injured in the mass shooting.

Here's what we know about what unfolded so far.

When federal agents from Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations arrived at Robb Elementary School Tuesday, they immediately encountered a scene of confusion and chaos, according to multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the attack.

Some arrived with heavy equipment, others with whatever they could carry as they ran to the scene on foot.

Initially, these agents, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News, tried to discern who was doing what, where was shooter who was engaging law enforcement and how were children were being evacuated.

Once the tactical team assembled with enough gear, they became aware of an order not to enter the classroom because they were told the suspect had barricaded himself, the sources told ABC News.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has said the incident commander wrongly believed the shooting had stopped.

Eventually, the special agent-in-charge of Homeland Security Investigations gave the instruction to all federal agents under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security that they were free to use their best judgment and to do what they felt was best, the sources said.

The federal agents were unsure whether any children could be saved at that point, but they were interested in evacuating the wounded. Some agents brought children in other classrooms out through windows.

The tactical team went in at 12:50 p.m. CDT and fatally shot the suspect, 77 minutes after the shooting started, officials said.

The suspect was dead at the scene, the sources said. He was found with more than a dozen bullet wounds.