Uvalde shooting video shows gunman go on fire, police response
Video obtained by the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE shows the confusion at Robb Elementary School as police stand outside classrooms.
Brianna Sanchez and Nate Shute, Austin American-Statesman
A preliminary report by the Texas House committee investigating the Uvalde school shooting blamed multiple failures by those in power for not stopping the massacre, according to media reports.
The report described “systemic failures and extremely poor decision-making”: how police ignored the unit’s active shooter training, how the school district did not fully adhere to its safety plan, and how the shooter’s family failed to recognize the warning signs before the massacre. according to the Texas Tribune, which obtained a copy of the report before it was scheduled to be released to the public.
CNN, which also obtained a copy of the report, said investigators cited the response from law enforcement, the school system, the shooter’s family and social media.
The commission found no “villains” other than the shooter, the report said, according to CNN.
Over the past month, the commission has held closed-door hearings to investigate the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers. Outrage quickly grew over the response of law enforcement, who converged on the school but waited more than an hour before storming the fourth-grade classroom — even as terrified students called 911 for help.
Earlier this week, the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, and television station KVUE exclusively obtained and released surveillance footage from the shooter’s hallway and responding law enforcement officers of the shooting.
The families of the victims are expected to receive the committee’s report and have an opportunity to view the hallway video Sunday afternoon, according to committee chairman Congressman Dustin Burroughs.
Here’s what we know.
What does the report say?
Nearly 400 law enforcement officers responded to the mass shooting, according to the nearly 80-page report obtained by multiple media outlets.
The overwhelming majority of those who responded to the school were federal and state law enforcement, the Tribune said. Law enforcement officials who responded included 150 U.S. Border Patrol agents and 91 state police officers, the paper reported.
The commission of inquiry is trying to answer many questions about what happened during the May 24 shooting, including why law enforcement officers waited more than an hour to enter the classroom where the shooter was.
While the full investigation has not been completed, the preliminary report provides initial details gleaned from testimony by families and community members, many of whom have expressed frustration with conflicting law enforcement accounts and details of the events surrounding the shooting.
Among the more than 40 people who testified before the commission: administrators from the Texas Department of Public Safety, officials from the Uvalde Police Department, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin and Uvalde Sheriff Ruben Nolasco were among the witnesses.
How has the shooting narrative changed?
Texas Governor Greg Abbott initially praised law enforcement officers for their actions during the shooting and praised their “amazing courage in running against gunfire.” He later retracted his statement after it was revealed that officers waited more than an hour after the gunman entered the school to storm the classroom.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw called the police response a “gross failure” that put the lives of officers before the lives of children at a Texas Senate hearing in June. McCraw accused school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo, the incident commander, of preventing officers from quickly confronting the shooter.
Another report obtained by the Statesman earlier this month — written by Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training and requested by the Texas Department of Public Safety — also found that a Uvalde police officer pointed his rifle at the shooter before he entered the school , but waited for permission from a superior to open fire.
What did the video show in the hallway?
Exclusive video obtained by The Statesman and television station KVUE earlier this week showed the delayed response of law enforcement.
In the video, officers walk back and forth in the hallway without entering or attempting to enter the classroom where the shooter was located. Even after hearing at least four gunshots from the classrooms 45 minutes after police arrived, officers made no move to enter the room. They finally rushed into the classroom and killed the shooter an hour and 14 minutes after police arrived on the scene.
Law enforcement experts who reviewed the video for the Statesman called the police actions “disastrous” and “inexcusable.”
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A Texas House committee pushed for the 77-minute video to be released to the public, and the Department of Public Safety also wanted to release the video, saying it would promote transparency without interfering with ongoing investigations.
But Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busby objected to the release of the video and instructed DPS to keep it confidential while investigations continue.
The video the House committee will release to families and the public Sunday will not include footage of the gunman entering the school and the hallway view of the gunman who initially fired into the classrooms. Video obtained by the Statesman includes this footage.
Contribution: Tony Plohetsky, American Statesman from Austin; Associated Press
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