Videos and 911 calls from Uvalde school massacre released by officials after legal fight
DALLAS - Police videos and 911 calls from the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school massacre, which left 19 students and two teachers dead, were released Saturday by city officials after a prolonged legal fight.
The release of the records came in response to a lawsuit brought by The Associated Press and other news organizations after Uvalde officials refused to publicly release documents related to the shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The delayed law enforcement response — nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman in a classroom filled with dead and wounded children and teachers — has been widely condemned as a massive failure. The gunman killed 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022, one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
READ MORE
- Uvalde school shooting victims' families reach $2 million settlement with city
- Former Uvalde mayor surprised new report defends how police responded to school shooting
- Uvalde school shooting: Victim's father arrested at county commissioner meeting
Multiple federal and state investigations into the slow response laid bare cascading problems in training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers in the South Texas city of about 15,000 people 80 miles west of San Antonio. Families of the victims have long sought accountability for the slow police response.
Two of the responding officers now face criminal charges: Former Uvalde school Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school officer Adrian Gonzales have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of child abandonment and endangerment. A Texas state trooper in Uvalde who had been suspended was reinstated to his job earlier this month.
READ MORE
- Uvalde families sue Call of Duty maker, Instagram parent company
- Uvalde shooting victims seek $27B, class action in lawsuit
- Mother of 10-year-old Uvalde shooting victim sues school district, police and gun manufacturer
Some of the families have called for more officers to be charged and filed federal and state lawsuits against law enforcement, social media, online gaming companies, and the gun manufacturer that made the rifle the gunman used.
The police response included nearly 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officials, as well as school and city police. While dozens of officers stood in the hallway trying to figure out what to do, students inside the classroom called 911 on cellphones, begging for help, and desperate parents who had gathered outside the building pleaded with officers to go in. A tactical team eventually entered the classroom and killed the shooter.
Video from inside Uvalde school shows officers milling around hallway during massacre
Surveillance footage captured the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting enter the building with an AR-15 style rifle and later shows officers in body armor milling in the hallway outside the fourth-grade classrooms where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
READ MORE
- Uvalde school shooting: DOJ report finds 'failures', 'no urgency'
- Texas state police won’t punish more officers over Uvalde
- 'I’m so scared': 911 recordings reveal fear, urgency of those trapped in Uvalde elementary school
Previously released video from school cameras showed police officers, some armed with rifles and bulletproof shields, waiting in the hallway.
A report commissioned by the city, however, defended the actions of local police, saying officers showed "immeasurable strength" and "level-headed thinking" as they faced fire from the shooter and refrained from firing into a darkened classroom.