Video footage shows dozens of heavily armed officers waiting to confront a Texas school shooter for more than an hour.
Surveillance body camera and police footage obtained by the media has provided further insight into law enforcement’s reaction to the Uvalde school shooting, which left 19 children and two teachers dead. Despite arriving in force moments after the attack began, officers waited 74 minutes to confront the gunman. Released Tuesday by the Austin American-Statesman and a local ABC affiliate, the video captures the shooting from start to finish, including the moment the shooter entered Robb Elementary School armed with a rifle.
“The video tells in real time the brutal story of how heavily armed officers failed to immediately launch a cohesive and aggressive response to stop the shooter and save more children if possible.” according to the statistician.
In addition to a shorter edited version of the new footage, the Statesman also posted a longer video capturing the entire incident. The videos do not show any scenes of violence, although bursts of gunfire can be heard in both. Despite barely getting to school “minutes after the gunman”, Police are seen gathering at the end of a hallway inside the building for most of the footage, apparently planning their approach even as dozens of gunshots continued to echo from a classroom. Although a large force of heavily armed officers appeared on the scene shortly thereafter, they remained in the hallway at a distance from the shooter for over an hour.
Police say they were looking for keys to the classroom before trying to break in, but investigators later determined the room was not locked. It’s not clear what explains the discrepancy or if officers tried to open the door while they waited. According to Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, the commanding officer on the scene, school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo treated the gunman like a “entrenched subject” instead of an active shooter. The latter scenario typically requires a very aggressive response to prevent further loss of life, as opposed to the slower and more cautious approach for a hidden suspect.
While McCraw has largely blamed Arredondo for failing to confront the shooter, the video shows a variety of law enforcement agencies that responded to the incident, including the Uvalde Police Department, the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department, the Department of Security Texas Public, Texas Rangers, US Border Patrol and US Marshals Service Until finally breaking into the classroom an hour and 14 minutes after the rampage, no officers made a rescue attempt. The behavior of law enforcement during the May 24 massacre has stoked intense public criticism, including from the parents of the slain children, some of whom could be seen on video pleading with officers to let them into the school to save their lives. to their little ones.