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image source, Austin American-Statesman
A Texas State Senate panel had planned to first show the images to grieving families later this week.
Families of those killed in the mass shooting at a Texas school have expressed anger and outrage following a new video showing the attack was leaked.
The 82 minutes of images from the Uvalde security cameras, published by a local media outlet, show the arrival of the attacker and how the police waittoo 77 minutes to compare it.
The video was published days before it was seen by the families of the victims, which was the initial plan of the authorities.
The recording, which confirms many of the details already given by Texas officials, begins from the moment the attacker crashes his vehicle near the school.
He then shoots bystanders before entering the study center and walking unhindered through the halls.
It then shows a student walking back to class from the bathroom who, upon seeing the attacker walking down the hall in front of him, freezes, turns and runs away.
The children’s screams were cut from the video, but multiple bursts of gunfire from the killer are clearly heard.
The first cops they arrived at place only three minutes following the assailant had entered the school, but even as several others gathered in the hallway, none attempted to enter the classroom where the assailant had barricaded himself with students.
Armed officers are also seen approaching the classroom where the shooting occurred, which they retreat when they hear gunshots.
Police officers who arrive later in tactical gear and other equipment also seem reluctant to confront the attacker.
After 77 minutes, they stormed the classroom and shot the 18-year-old to death.
Filtration ahead of schedule
The leaking of the images, as well as what they show, reignited anger in this Texas town.
“Whoever leaked that video… I pray you never have to deal with what all parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles are dealing with. Shame on you,” a relative said at a news conference in Washington DC.
Gloria Cazares, whose daughter was one of the fatalities in the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, urged people not to share the video.
“This is the opposite of what the families wanted,” he wrote on Facebook. “Our hearts are broken once more!”
But other relatives expressed their support for the spread. “I am happy that it is published. But I wish they had waited until family members might see it beforehand,” Jesse Rizo, who lost a relative in the shooting, told a local channel.
the local environment Austin American-Statesman he defended his decision to publish the images in an editorial: “Transparency and relentless reporting is one way to bring regarding change,” he said.
“Our goal is to continue to bring to light what happened at Robb Elementary School, something that the families and friends of the Uvalde victims have been asking for for a long time,” he added.
image source, Archyde.com
Uvalde’s attack on May 24 was the worst school shooting in the United States in a decade.
Texas Public Safety Chief Steven McCraw said the commander on the scene, Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, “waited for the radio and the rifles and waited for the shields and waited for the SWAT.”
In June, Arredondo said he did not consider himself the commander and did not order police to stop. The agent was placed on administrative leave last month and later resigned.
McCraw described the police response to attack as an ‘abject failure’ and said officers wasted vital time looking for a key to the classroom that “never needed”.
Officials expressed disappointment at the leak of the footage, which a Texas State Senate panel was first to show to grieving families on Sunday.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, speaking at a town hall meeting, called the leak “one of the most cowardly things” he has ever seen.
“They didn’t need to see the shooter come in and hear the gunshots. They don’t need to relive that, they’ve been through enough,” he said.
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