Uvalde school shooting: Reports says surveillance footage showed delay in police response during tragic massacre

As a series of shootings and violent attacks continue to rock the US, questions still linger around the Robb Elementary massacre in Uvalde, Texas, which led to many criticizing what was seen as a lackluster response by authorities in dealing with the suspected gunman.

Various outlets accused local authorities of providing contradictory accounts for why they had a delayed response to the suspect, Salvador Ramos. Ramos allegedly murdered 19 children and two staff members over 77 minutes before being killed by the police.

Uvalde authorities initially claimed that they could not enter the room Ramos was in as it was locked. This was supported by a report by San Antonio News-Express, which reviewed the footage and determined that the officers only entered the classroom when they received keys from a staff member.

At a press conference, Uvalde School District Police chief Pete Arredondo claimed that the scene officers needed to wait for gear and reinforcements. However, according to the Statesman, school surveillance and police body cams showed that multiple sufficiently equipped officers were outside the room waiting.

This criticism has once more undermined the narrative put out by local authorities concerning the Robb Elementary massacre. According to NPR, the city of Uvalde has hired a professional investigator to suppress the release of any further footage from the incident.

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What did the footage reveal about the Uvalde Massacre?

According to the New York Post, the footage depicts several officers and SWAT Team members outside the classroom, armed with ballistic shields.

While Arredondo had noted the locked door as a reason they could not breach the room the alleged gunman was in, the Statesman said that authorities did not even attempt to open the door or force it open with a Halligan tool- a standard piece of equipment used to break locks.

The surveillance also depicted complaints among officers who believed they should enter the room. According to Fox News, they waited for over an hour by the door.

One officer said:

“If there’s kids in there, we need to go in there.”

The surveillance also contradicts another aspect of Arredondo’s testimony. The Uvalde Police Chief had claimed that the delayed response was due to a misunderstanding, as he believed the suspected gunman had barricaded himself and thus ceased to be an active shooter. This led him to the impression that they had time to plan and respond.

However, the Statesman reported that the surveillance footage contained the sounds of gunfire from within the classrooms between 11:44 pm and 12:21 pm.

As the authorities come under more scrutiny, their attempts to hire a private investigator to suppress surveillance footage have been seen as a sign of their guilt in mishandling the situation. The Robb Elementary School massacre is the largest school shooting in Texas history.