Leaked surveillance video shows police response during Uvalde school shooting
It has been more than a month since a gunman shot and killed 19 kids and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. On Tuesday, a leaked version of the school security footage from that day was leaked five days earlier than it was supposed to be released.
The plan was to release the video on Sunday to the victims’ families then release it to the public.
"It made my heart break all over again," said Grace Valencia.
Grace Valencia is the aunt of 10-year-old Uziyah Sergio Garcia, a fourth-grade student who was one of students killed in the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde. She reached out to FOX 7 Austin to say the leaked video proved the responding officers failed her nephew and the other victims.
"It made me sick. It made me sick," she said.
Tuesday, Valencia and the public got a glimpse into what happened during the Uvalde shooting after a portion of the 77-minute security footage from that day was leaked.
The video shows the gunman entering Robb Elementary at 11:33 a.m. He is seen walking down an empty hallway with an AR-15 style rifle in hand. A child spots the shooter as he's walking ahead, and the child stops in their tracks. The gunman can be heard opening fire on a classroom and the kid runs away.
Officials reported more than 100 rounds of gunfire were shot by the gunman.
Three minutes later, police are in the same hallway the gunman walked down. Some officers rush towards the classroom where the gunman is, but most stay back. All officers quickly retreat back down the hallway and take cover after shots are fired from the gunman.
"They ran away. They didn't run away to go see, ‘let's go through a back’ or ‘let's go through a wall’ or, no, they just ran. They just ran away," said Valencia.
The video skips forward 19 minutes, more officers arrive with heavy armor and ballistic shields, but no movement is made towards the classroom where the gunman is.
"You don't wait. You don't wait. Hurry up and do something," said Valencia in reference to the video.
Video from inside Uvalde school shows officers milling around hallway during massacre
Surveillance footage captured the gunman in the Uvalde school shooting enter the building with an AR-15 style rifle and later shows officers in body armor milling in the hallway outside the fourth-grade classrooms where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
Approximately 48 minutes after the gunman entered the school, officers remained at the end of the hallway even after more rounds could be heard coming from the gunman. Officers continue to wait, but eventually move towards the classroom.
Then 57 minutes after the gunman entered the school, officers are closer to where he is but still have not made any attempt at rescue. In the midst of the chaos, officers can be seen checking their phones and one even gets hand sanitizer from a dispenser on the wall.
The gunman is then shot dead by officers after breaching the classroom 77 minutes after officers arrived on scene.
"I want them to serve prison time. I see them that they murdered those kids, too, just like the gunman. The gunman was shooting them, and they were standing outside," said Valencia.
Valencia says who knows what would have happened to her nephew Uziyah and the other victims if those officers acted earlier.
"We don't know. We're never going to know, but I feel in my heart, yes, a lot more kids would have survived if they were gone in there," she said.
DPS Director Steven McCraw released a statement on the leaked video:
"I am deeply disappointed this video was released before all of the families who were impacted that day and the community of Uvalde had the opportunity to view it as part of Chairman Dustin Burrows’ plan. Those most affected should have been among the first to see it. As I stated during my testimony before the Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans, this video provides horrifying evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary on May 24 was an abject failure. In law enforcement, when one officer fails, we all fail."
Texas US Representative Dustin Burrows also responded:
"The committee is aware a portion of the hallway video has been made public. While I am glad that a small portion is now available for the public, I do believe watching the entire segment of law enforcement’s response, or lack thereof, is also important."
The video was planned to be released Sunday, but that could change now.