Currents News Staff
It was chaos and confusion. The mayor of Uvalde released new police body camera footage shedding light on those first panicked moments inside Robb Elementary.
Critical moments tick by as urgency fades away. Officers don’t confront the gunman and look confused and delayed, thinking there are no children inside. But soon after, in a nearby classroom, police help students and teachers escape.
“Kids coming out, kids coming out,” they shout.
Outside the classroom with the gunman, officers try to plead with him and are unaware that children may still be inside the classroom and actively in danger.
“Sir if you can hear me,” officers say, “please put your gun down. we don’t want anyone else hurt.”
A scathing 77-page report finds systemic failures by the nearly 400 officers from various agencies who responded.
“They failed to move forward in the threat of danger,” said Jimmy Perdue, the President of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, “to secure the scene to take care of the attacker and to save as many kids as possible.”
The report reveals an overall “lackadaisical approach” by law enforcement with “egregious poor-decision making.”
Investigators didn’t find any single person culpable of acting maliciously, but noted a repeated lack of a clear command.
“But at least in their final moments, they could have comforted them, to let them know they’re with them,” said Jesus Rizo, a family member of Cazares who spoke at the Uvalde council meeting. “But they did the total opposite of that. They stood there as people bled out.”