Authorities in Uvalde, Texas, have released police body camera footage and a collection of audio and video recordings from the deadly 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The footage was released after media outlets including The Associated Press filed a lawsuit against the city for initially refusing to release information about the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
One of the first calls police received that day was from a woman reporting a truck had gone into a ditch and people had run onto school grounds. The Associated Press reported.
“Oh my god, they have guns,” she told police.
A few minutes later, a man called and said, “He’s shooting at kids! Stand back!” The man called police to tell them an 18-year-old shooter was inside the school.
“Oh Lord, in the name of Jesus, he’s inside the school shooting kids,” he said.
Police body camera footage shows officers telling the gunman to “don’t hurt anyone else” and demanding he put his weapon down. Blood is seen on hallway and classroom floors.
Following the shooting, law enforcement’s response was heavily criticized.
A damning Department of Justice report found that a lack of preparation, communication and a sense of urgency led to nearly 400 federal, state and local law enforcement agents standing outside the school for 77 minutes while the shooter was inside.
The shooter, Salvador Ramos, drove to the school in his truck after opening fire at his grandmother’s home, and according to the Associated Press, Ramos’ uncle called 911 multiple times trying to get through to his nephew and plead with him to stop.
“Maybe he’ll listen to me, because he listens to everything I say,” Ramos’ uncle said by phone. “Maybe he can do something to turn himself in or turn himself in.”
The media outlet noted that the report came too late, after police had already shot and killed Ramos.
In the body camera footage, Published on YouTube By KSAT 12, officers are seen pulling kids out of a school window and one says, “Thank you,” and the officer says, “We’ve got you,” and tells the kids to hurry up and get out.
Families of the victims renewed their calls for prosecution of officers after a Justice Department report said unnecessary deaths occurred when police detained parents who tried to enter the school but did not.
Earlier this week, the Texas Department of Public Safety reinstated state trooper Steven McCraw, who had been suspended following the shooting.
McCraw said commanders at the scene of the shooting believed the situation had changed from an active shooter situation to a barricade situation and that children were no longer in danger.
Only two other officers have faced criminal charges and both have pleaded not guilty.
The Hill has reached out to the City of Uvalde for comment.
