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A collection of police video, 911 calls and emails from the 2022 Uvalde school shooting offer new details about the Robb Elementary massacre, while also largely reaffirming reporting about the botched response to a gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers.
The city of Uvalde released the trove of records Saturday, ending its more than two-year legal battle with nearly two dozen news organizations, including The Texas Tribune and ProPublica. The records contain body and dash camera videos from Uvalde Police Department officers, communication between city officials, and hundreds of audio recordings from local police and emergency calls to city dispatchers.
One Uvalde municipal police officer said in a report that law enforcement had to rely on a parent to use bolt cutters to cut the locks to the gated fence the shooter scaled to enter the school. That same officer also indicated in his report that he overheard a female relative of the shooter discuss how he’d expressed suicidal thoughts the night before the massacre. And the shooter’s uncle pleaded with police to speak to the teenager, saying he believed he could talk him down. The 911 call, however, came six minutes after law enforcement killed the gunman.
[“Someone tell me what to do”]
The release is the first major disclosure of documents by a government agency involved in the flawed response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. It was part of a settlement agreement between the city and the news organizations. Three other government agencies — the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, and the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office — continue fighting against releasing any records.
The body camera footage had already been released by the city and much of the radio communication and 911 calls appear to have been previously documented by the news organizations. Together, they continue to crystallize the confusion and chaos of that day as hundreds of police officers descended upon the scene.
ProPublica and the Tribune previously obtained hundreds of hours of leaked investigative material through a confidential source that showed widespread failures, including that officers wrongly treated the shooter as a barricaded subject, rather than an active threat and failed to confront him for 77 minutes.
[“He has a battle rifle”: Police feared Uvalde gunman’s AR-15]
The newsrooms published 911 calls that showed the increasing sense of urgency and desperation by children and teachers pleading to be saved and revealed how officers’ fear of the shooter’s AR-15 prevented them from acting more quickly. In a collaboration with FRONTLINE that included a documentary, the newsrooms also showed that while the children in Uvalde were prepared, following what they had learned in their active shooter drills, many of the officers who responded were not.
The U.S. Justice Department later published a report that heavily criticized the delayed response and said that had officers followed common training practices, some victims would have survived.
According to records released Saturday, Uvalde municipal police officer Bobby Ruiz Sr. said in an incident report after the shooting that law enforcement had to rely on a parent to cut a lock on the gates of a fence around the school.
“One of the parents were able to acquire bolt cutters where he was able to cut the locks to the gates,” Ruiz said. “I observed the children and staff members running towards our location. I ran up along with two other male individuals in which we hurried the students and school staff behind cover.”
[Records reveal medical response further delayed care for Uvalde shooting victims]
Ruiz was then sent nearby to the house where the gunman lived with his grandparents. Just before the shooting, the teenager shot his grandmother in the face, took his grandfather’s truck and headed to the school. Ruiz said that at the house, he overheard a relative say they’d stayed up with the gunman the night before after he expressed a desire to die by suicide.
Laura Prather, who represented the news agencies in the legal fight for the records, called the release a “step toward transparency,” and noted that other governmental entities are still fighting to withhold materials related to the shooting and law enforcement response.
“Transparency is necessary to help Uvalde heal and allow us all to understand what happened and learn how to prevent future tragedies,” said Prather, media law chair for Haynes Boone.
Although two state district judges in Texas ruled in favor of the newsrooms in both lawsuits and ordered the government entities to make their records public, all three latter agencies appealed the decisions. That has prolonged the complete release of materials related to that day, which several victims’ families have said they seek.
The city in a statement Saturday said it wished to comply with the court order and end a legal battle.
“In the interest of serving taxpayers, the Uvalde community, and ensuring compliance with [Texas Public Information Act], the City is fulfilling its responsibility to provide responsive records, which have been appropriately redacted in accordance with Texas law pursuant to the Court’s Order, to conclude this lawsuit,” the statement read. “The City is exercising careful diligence to protect privacy rights and to comply with the Court’s Order.”
Former Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, who is now a Republican candidate for the Texas House, said in a phone interview Saturday that the other government entities in the lawsuit should follow the city’s example.
“The only way we’re going to know what truly happened is for everybody to release their records, put them out there,” McLaughlin said. “Mistakes were made, there’s no denying that. Take your lumps.”
Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco said in a statement that the potential release of records was “under the purview” of the office’s attorney.
“We understand the importance of transparency and accountability in matters of public interest, and we are committed to cooperating with all necessary parties within the bounds of the law,” he said.
Representatives for the school district and DPS did not immediately return calls or emails Saturday.
More than two years after the shooting, Uvalde residents have said that they still feel like there is little accountability and few answers on who is to blame and why the law enforcement response went so wrong.
In May, the city of Uvalde reached a settlement with the families of the victims, agreeing to overhaul police training and hiring policies. The agency also vowed to pay $2 million in restitution.
Victims’ families are seeking millions more from other government entities and private companies in multiple lawsuits that are ongoing.
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