Desperate parents begged law enforcement officers to storm an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in the frantic minutes after a gunman opened fire in one of the deadliest classroom attacks in US history, police body camera video released Tuesday shows. "Whose class is he in?" one parent can be heard asking. Another comes up and yells, "Come on man, my daughter is in there!" The videos show the agonizingly slow law enforcement response, along with confusion and delays, the AP reports. Authorities did not confront 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos for more than an hour after the attack at Robb Elementary School began on May 24, 2022. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed.
The records released Tuesday are the final batch of documents that local authorities withheld during a yearslong legal battle. Family members of the victims were among those pushing for the records to be released. They show:
- Parents urged action: Several videos capture officers from multiple departments inside the school hallway and standing outside, some suggesting throwing gas in the window or searching for a key to the locked classroom. But it's unclear who is in charge. Within minutes, parents making their way to a fence near the school yell at officers to do something. One parent angrily says, "Either you go in or I'm going in bro," adding a few seconds later, "My kids are in there, bro. ... Please!" Almost an hour before anyone charged into the classroom, a voice can be heard to say, "Something needs to be done ASAP." Outside, a woman who says she's a relative of the gunman sobs and tells police to "take him out."
- Deputies had met with gunman: Documents released Monday by the school district offer the most detailed look yet at the gunman whose downward spiral began in middle school with a series of suspensions and warnings for harassment and bullying. He dropped out of school just months before the shooting. Sheriff's deputies went to his home on two consecutive nights three months before the attack because he was arguing with his mother over Wi-Fi and broken video game equipment after she turned off the internet, according to county records released Tuesday. Adriana Reyes said her son never hit her but told deputies she was scared of him and needed help, a report said. Ramos' grandmother picked him up one night, and deputies drove him there the next night.
- Force of 400 waited: Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman in a classroom filled with dead and wounded children and teachers. A Department of Justice review later cited "cascading failures" in the handling of the massacre, while a report by Texas lawmakers faulted law enforcement at every level with failing "to prioritize saving innocent lives over their own safety."
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- Arredondo and Gonzales: Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo and Adrian Gonzales, another former school district officer, are the only two officers who face criminal charges for their actions that day. They both have pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and abandonment and are scheduled for trial later this year. At one point, Arredondo is seen on body camera sending another officer to get a master key. Later investigations found no evidence the classroom door was locked. Early on, he tells officers crouched near him that they are going to clear all the rooms before breaching the classroom because "time is on our side right now." He says they don't know if there are students inside but "we're gonna save the lives of the other ones."
- The wait ends: Still, the minutes tick past. "We are waiting," an officer outside says. A voice can be heard saying over a loudspeaker: "Please put your firearm down. We don't want anyone else hurt." Finally, officers rush inside the classroom, and three shots ring out. One officer walks out of the classroom, anguish on his face as medical workers move into the hallway. "I think there are a lot left," one person says. Another officer walks out of the classroom, shaking his head.
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