UVALDE, Texas — Several news organizations, including KHOU 11 News' parent company TEGNA, won a legal battle over the release of records in the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde.
A Texas judge sided with the coalition of media organizations and ordered the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and the Uvalde County Sheriff's Office to release all responsive documents within 20 days, according to Haynes and Boone, LLP, which represented the coalition.
The ruling came nearly two years after the coalition filed a lawsuit after open records requests about the shooting were repeatedly denied.
The group includes NBC News, The New York Times Company, Gannett, Univision, the Texas Tribune and others. Eleven TEGNA stations are also part of the group, including KHOU-TV, KVUE-TV in Austin, WFAA-TV in Dallas and KENS-TV in San Antonio.
About a year ago, a district judge in Texas ruled that the Texas Department of Public Safety had to hand over documents that detailed the response to the May 2022 mass shooting.
On May 24, 2022, 19 students and two teachers were killed when a gunman entered Robb Elementary School and opened fire in a classroom. Three hundred and seventy-six law enforcement officers responded, including DPS troopers. It took 77 minutes for law enforcement to confront the shooter and there are many questions left unanswered about what went wrong.
Various news organizations filed public records requests asking for emails, video footage, call logs, 911 tapes and other items that would shine a light on what really happened. The DPS denied most requests saying the release of that information would "interfere with an ongoing investigation" and various "law enforcement" exceptions. Some of the video footage, 911 calls and interviews have already been made public either through DPS or legislative committee interviews, which were streamed live during hearings.