For almost two months the shooting that took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas has been under investigation. The results thus far have not been good, revealing an almost complete failure by law enforcement to do much to stop the carnage for over an hour, with the result being 19 children and two teachers murdered. Now, the video has been released.
Much of the investigation has been the review of surveillance video from that day, which shows what happened both inside and outside the school. Now, that video has been released.
The parents and other family members of the victims of the shooting were told that they would get to view the video first, over the weekend, before it was released to the public. That’s not what happened, and the families are very upset. “We’re angry, we’re very angry and we want justice for our kids,” Martinez said. “And for this to be let out without us being seen first. We are the parents that lost our children,” said Felicia Martinez whose son, Xavier Lopez, was killed that day. “To the person who leaked this, screw you,” she said.
The full 82 minutes of footage from the Uvalde school shooting was published Tuesday night by the Austin American-Statesman, according to News 4 San Antonio. The Austin American-Statesman released a lengthy explanation of why they published the video that may be found here.
They describe what is captured on video of that day: “…excruciating detail [of] dozens of sworn officers, local, state and federal — heavily armed, clad in body armor, with helmets, some with protective shields — walking back and forth in the hallway, some leaving the camera frame and then reappearing, others training their weapons toward the classroom, talking, making cellphone calls, sending texts and looking at floor plans, but not entering or attempting to enter the classrooms.”
Austin Statesman tweeted: “Warning: The video footage and audio is disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised. Video from inside Robb Elementary and body camera footage from a responding officer show how Uvalde officers responded to the active shooter. Full story and video: https://bit.ly/3c9IxUL?utm_source=SND&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=statesman“
Below is the video in its entirety. We warn you, it is upsetting:
It seems evident, from the number of gunshots that can be heard before any officers enter the building, that the gunman likely murdered as many lives as possible during that time. It makes one wonder what happened to the officer who said he had the chance to shoot the gunman just before he entered the school but never received the go-ahead to do so from his commander.
The video is difficult to watch. We can say that the young boy who is seen at the beginning, looking down the hallway and seeing the gunman, reportedly survived after hiding in a bathroom. Should the parents and other family members have been respected enough to get to see the video before it was published to the world? Does the video change your opinion on what should happen with assault weapons like what the gunman used? Why or why not? What do you think of what you see law enforcement doing, or not doing, in the video?
