Public Outrage Increases as Surveillance Footage Showing Uvalde Police Response Leaks

The hour-long-plus school footage of Uvalde police officers refusing to engage with the active shooter in Robb Elementary School as he went and killed over 19 children and two teachers was leaked and released on Tuesday, provoking outrage from the public and the community.

The footage of the Uvalde School Shooting shows police officers coming in three minutes after the killer starts opening fire in the school. The video showed them refusing to engage or enter the classrooms where the shooter was killing the children, as they meandered around for almost an hour waiting before they decided to kill the shooter 84 minutes after arriving at the scene, according to the Austin-American Statesman.

The video showed multiple officers from different agencies coming into the scene, and showed the heavily-armed officers seemingly cowering in the corner as they refused to engage with the school shooter, who continued to kill children as they waited, CNN reported.

“They just didn't act. They just didn't move,” Uvalde County Commissioner Ronald Garza said. “I just don't know what was going through those policemen's minds that tragic day, but ... there was just no action on their part.”

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw had claimed that the school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo treated the situation not as an active school shooting but as a barricaded subject, and that was the reason why there was no response.

In spite of this, however, the local community continues to be outraged at the revelation.

“Even if we see 77 minutes in a hallway, it's not going to tell us who was in charge or who should have been in charge. And I think that's the sad statement of what happened on May 24 ... that no one was in charge,” state Sen. Roland Gutierrez said.

“You hope that each time you watch (the video) that the outcome will be different, that somebody will step up and this time it'll be different. This time somebody will actually go in the door. But that did not happen and we all know the outcome,” North Richland Hills Police Department Chief Jimmy Perdue said.

The video’s release received a mixed response from the government and the surviving family members of the victims of the shooting, with some decrying its early release while others were more cautiously supportive, the BBC reported.

“Whoever leaked that video... I pray that you never have to deal with what all the parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles are dealing with. Shame on you,” one family member said.

“I am happy it is released. But I wish they would have waited until the family members got to see it beforehand,” Jesse Rizo, who lost a family member in the shooting, said.

“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,” state Rep. Dustin Burrows said in a statement.