Uvalde School Shooting Video Surveillance Footage Fuels Scrutiny Over Delayed Law Enforcement Response

“They just didn’t act. They just didn’t budge,” Uvalde County Commissioner Ronald Garza told CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday. “I just don’t know what was going through the minds of those officers on that tragic day, but … no action was taken on their part.” The video also doesn’t answer the question of “who, if anyone, was responsible,” Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) told CNN on Tuesday. “Even if we look at 77 minutes on a corridor, it’s not going to tell us who was responsible or who should have been responsible. And I think that’s the sad statement of what happened on May 24 is that nobody was responsible. “ Gutierrez criticized the Texas Department of Public Safety for having too many officers on the scene but not taking control of the situation. The state agency consistently pointed to Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the police chief of the Uvalde school district, as the commander on the scene during the attack. Arredondo was placed on leave as superintendent of the school district in June and has not made substantive public statements about his decision-making that day despite intense public scrutiny, though he told the Texas Tribune he did not consider himself the leader on stage . On Tuesday, the Uvalde City Council accepted his resignation from his position as a city councilor. The victims’ families said they were disturbed by the leaked video, saying it was just the latest in a long line of examples of their wishes being pushed aside. Officials say they had planned to show the video to families this weekend before making it public. “There’s no reason families should see this,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said of the leak. “I mean, they were going to see the video, but they didn’t need to see the gunman walk in and hear the gunshots. They don’t need to relive that, they’ve been through enough,” he said.

Officials harshly criticize the early release of the video

The decision by the Austin American-Statesman — along with television affiliate KVUE — to release the footage was harshly criticized by local officials who echoed parents’ concerns, saying some graphic sounds and images should not have been included. “While I’m glad that a small portion is now available to the public, I think it’s also important to watch the whole piece of law enforcement’s response, or lack thereof,” the chairman of the state House Investigative Committee, state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R) tweeted.
“I am also disappointed that the victim’s families and the Uvalde community’s requests to first watch the video and not have specific images and audio of the violence, were not met,” he wrote. In the first edited video, which runs just over four minutes, audio captures frantic teachers screaming as the gunman walks across the parking lot after crashing his truck just outside the Robb Elementary School campus.
He then walks into the school at 11:33 a.m., walks down a hallway carrying a semi-automatic rifle, walks into a classroom and opens fire. As the gunshots ring out, a student peeking in the corner of the hallway quickly turns and runs away from the gunman.
Minutes later, officers rush down the hallway and approach the door, but immediately retreat to the end of the hall when the gunman is seen opening fire on them at 11:37 am. door again until 12:21 p.m. and wait until 12:50 p.m. to breach the order and kill the gunman.
A second edited video, nearly an hour and a half long, was also posted on the newspaper’s YouTube channel.
In the video, the sound of screaming children has been edited out, but the loud gunshots can still be heard clearly and the gunman’s face is briefly seen as he walks through the school doors.
“It is unbelievable that this video was released as part of a news story with images and audio of the violence of this incident without consideration for the families involved,” McLaughlin said in a statement. The American-Statesman defended its decision, with executive editor Manny Garcia writing in an editorial: “We need to bear witness to history, and transparency and relentless reporting is one way to bring about change.” McLaughlin also shared his disappointment that a person close to the investigation would leak the video.
“That was the best way for this video to be released today — whether it was released by DPS or whoever it was. In my opinion, it was very unprofessional, which this investigation was, in my opinion, from the first day,” he said during a city council meeting Tuesday.

What will happen next?

Despite the leak of the surveillance video, the Texas House Investigative Committee still plans to meet with the families of the victims on Sunday and provide them with an investigative report, as originally planned, a source close to the committee told CNN.
The report will show that there was not a single failure on May 24, but instead a group failure of large proportions, the source said. Committee members also asked Texas DPS Director Col. Steve McCraw to testify a second time Monday to get further clarification on earlier sworn testimony before the Texas House and Senate, according to the source. Meanwhile, some outraged family members have taken to social media to urge people not to share the video while families come to terms with the video and the law enforcement behavior it reveals. “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON’T SHARE THE VIDEO!! We need time to process it!!,” posted Berlinda Arreola, grandmother of Amerie Jo Garza, 10, who was killed in the massacre. Gloria Cazares, whose daughter Jacklyn was killed, also pleaded with her family and friends on Facebook not to share the video, saying it was “the opposite of what the families wanted!”
“If you are a true friend please don’t share this, I don’t want to see this on my feed nor do I want to be tagged on any of the news stations that share it. Our hearts are broken again!” Cazares wrote.
The Uvalde School District has scheduled a meeting on July 18, where McLaughlin said he hopes the City Council and the families of the victims can get details about going back to school.
The school district previously announced that students at Robb Elementary School will not return to campus and will be reassigned to other schools.
CNN’s Steve Almasy, Andy Rose, Elizabeth Joseph, Taylor Romine, Shimon Prokupecz, Eric Levenson, Cheri Mossburg, Christina Maxouris, Mary Kay Mallonee, Vanessa Price and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

title: “Uvalde School Shooting Video Surveillance Footage Fuels Scrutiny Over Delayed Law Enforcement Response " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-06” author: “Emily Greene”

The release of the video was particularly poignant for the victims’ families, including a group of parents and relatives who said they were blindsided Tuesday while in Washington, D.C., to speak with elected officials. They were waiting to see the video on Sunday, when the Texas House Committee investigating the shooting planned to show it to the families before making it public. “We’re being blindsided by a leak,” said Angel Garza, whose 10-year-old daughter, Amerie Jo, was killed. “Who do you think you are to release videos like this of our children who can’t even speak for themselves, but you want to go ahead and broadcast their last moments to the entire world? What makes you think that’s okay?” The video, which was lightly edited by the American Statesman to blur the identity of at least one child and remove the sound of the children screaming, still leaves some questions unanswered — particularly why the response from law enforcement took so long. “They just didn’t act. They just didn’t budge,” Uvalde County Commissioner Ronald Garza told CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday. “I just don’t know what was going through the minds of those officers on that tragic day, but … no action was taken on their part.” The video also doesn’t answer the question of “who, if anyone, was responsible,” Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) told CNN on Tuesday. “Even if we look at 77 minutes in a corridor, it’s not going to tell us who was responsible or who should have been responsible. And I think that’s the sad statement of what happened on May 24th … that no one was in charge. “ Gutierrez criticized the Texas Department of Public Safety for having too many officers on the scene but not taking control of the situation. The state agency consistently pointed to Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the police chief of the Uvalde school district, as the commander on the scene during the attack. Arredondo was placed on leave as superintendent of the school district in June and has not made substantive public statements about his decision-making that day despite intense public scrutiny, though he told the Texas Tribune he did not consider himself the leader on stage . On Tuesday, the Uvalde City Council accepted his resignation from his position as a city councilor. Regardless of who was responsible, each officer had a duty to act, North Richland Hills Police Chief Jimmy Perdue told CNN on Wednesday. Perdue is president of the Texas Association of Chiefs of Police. “I think the training is very clear about what we need to do,” Perdue said. “Even an officer has a responsibility to stop a murder. And that didn’t happen.”

Police waited more than an hour to confront the gunman, video shows

In the first edited video, which runs just over four minutes, audio captures frantic teachers screaming as the gunman walks across the parking lot after crashing his truck just outside the Robb Elementary School campus.
He then walks into the school at 11:33 a.m., walks down a hallway carrying a semi-automatic rifle, walks into a classroom and opens fire. As the gunshots ring out, a student peeking in the corner of the hallway quickly turns and runs away from the gunman.
Minutes later, officers rush down the hallway and approach the door, but immediately retreat to the end of the hall when the gunman is seen opening fire on them at 11:37 am. door again until 12:21 p.m. and wait until 12:50 p.m. to breach the order and kill the gunman.
A second edited video, nearly an hour and a half long, was also posted on the newspaper’s YouTube channel.
In the video, the sound of screaming children has been edited out, but the loud gunshots can still be heard clearly and the gunman’s face is briefly seen as he walks through the school doors. “You hope that every time you watch (the video) the outcome will be different,” Perdue said, “that someone will step up and this time it will be different. This time someone will actually walk in the door. But that didn’t happen and we all know the result.” Perdue was unable to explain the delayed response, saying only that “human frailties set in.” “There are definitely times in a tactical situation where you’re supposed to hold back and not move forward in whatever the situation is. But there are just as many times when you’re supposed to push and push the subject toward the gunman and toward the gunman.” he said. The restraint in this case, he said, “was not the right decision and I’m sure they also regret it and one that we will have to assess as a profession.”

Officials harshly criticize the early release of the video

The decision by the Austin American-Statesman — along with television affiliate KVUE — to release the footage was harshly criticized by local officials who echoed parents’ concerns, saying some graphic sounds and images should not have been included. The American-Statesman defended its decision to publish, with executive editor Manny Garcia writing in an editorial, “We need to bear witness to history, and transparency and relentless reporting is one way to bring about change.” Local officials have also criticized the release of the video, including Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, who said, “There’s no reason families should see this.” “I mean, they were going to see the video, but they didn’t have to see the gunman come in and hear the gunshots,” McLaughlin said. They don’t need to go through this again, they’ve been through enough.” McLaughlin also shared his disappointment that a person close to the investigation leaked the video, calling it “very unprofessional” during a city council meeting Tuesday.
“While I’m glad that a small portion is now available to the public, I think it’s also important to watch the whole piece of law enforcement’s response, or lack thereof,” the chairman of the state House Investigative Committee, state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R) tweeted.
“I am also disappointed that the victim’s families and the Uvalde community’s requests to first watch the video and not have specific images and audio of the violence, were not met,” he wrote.

What will happen next?

Despite the leak of the surveillance video, the Texas House Investigative Committee still plans to meet with the families of the victims on Sunday and provide them with an investigative report, as originally planned, a source close to the committee told CNN.
The report will show that there was not a single failure on May 24, but instead a group failure of large proportions, the source said. Committee members also asked Texas DPS Director Col. Steve McCraw to testify a second time Monday to get further clarification on earlier sworn testimony before the Texas House and Senate, according to the source. Meanwhile, some outraged family members have taken to social media to urge people not to share the video while families come to terms with the video and the law enforcement behavior it reveals. “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT SHARE THE VIDEO!! We need time to process it!!,” posted Amerie Jo Garza’s grandmother Berlinda Arreola. Gloria Cazares, whose daughter Jacklyn was killed, also pleaded with her family and friends on Facebook not to share the video, saying it was “the opposite of what the families wanted!”
“If you are a true friend please don’t share this, I don’t want to see this on my feed nor do I want to be tagged on any of the news stations that share it. Our hearts are broken again!” Cazares wrote.
The Uvalde School District has scheduled a meeting on July 18, where McLaughlin said he hopes the City Council and the families of the victims can get details about going back to school.
The school district previously announced that students at Robb Elementary School will not return to campus and will be reassigned to other schools.
CNN’s Steve Almasy, Andy Rose, Elizabeth Joseph, Taylor Romine, Shimon Prokupecz, Eric Levenson, Cheri Mossburg, Christina Maxouris, Mary Kay Mallonee, Vanessa Price and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.