UVALDE, Texas — Amid growing demands from the families of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the Uvalde mass shooting, we are releasing the video as part of our efforts to be transparent in our coverage, as well as our efforts to hold law enforcement accountable.
The video from inside Robb Elementary school was obtained by KVUE, our sister station in Austin, and the Austin-American Statesman.
The video doesn’t include graphic or violence images, but it does include the gunfire and 911 calls and some may find it disturbing.
It also sheds more light on the inexplicable and unacceptable lack of action by police officers, deputies and DPS officers, many of whom were heavily-armed and wearing protective gear.
During the agonizing 77 minutes that began with the gunman entering the school, officers waited at the end of the hallway even after hearing gunshots and the victims’ screams. We have edited the audio of the victims.
At one point during that long wait, you see two of them fist bump and another one washes his hands with bacterial soap in the hallway before taking cover again.
There doesn’t appear to be any sense of urgency even as children called 911 repeatedly pleading for help.
The DPS has called the response – or lack of it – an “abject failure.” Experts say it’s one of the worst law enforcement failures in American history, contrary to everything law enforcement is trained to do in an active shooter situation.
Uvalde school shooting timeline
11:28 a.m. The horror of May 24 begins when cameras perched atop a funeral home across the street from Robb Elementary capture the gunman crashing his grandmother’s truck into a ditch. We would later learn his grandmother was his first shooting victim. She was critically injured but did survive.
Two men from the funeral home rush toward the crash scene but the gunman fires three shots at them, forcing them to retreat to safety.
11:31 a.m. Another camera shows how the shooter then walked toward the campus and begins shooting from the parking lot.
In a 911 call, you hear a teacher screaming, “He’s shooting … Oh my God! Get in your rooms! Get in your rooms! Get in your rooms! Get in your rooms!”
11:32 a.m. Multiple gunshots outside the school are recorded on a bystander’s camera.
11:33 a.m. The gunman enters the school through a side door, turns down the hallway carrying a long gun and walks toward the two classrooms where the victims were located.
In a chilling moment, a little boy comes out of the bathroom and peeks around the corner where he sees the gunman and hears a barrage of gunfire before running back to safety. We blurred the child’s face to protect his identity.
11:34 The gunshots continue
11:36 The first seven officers arrive on the scene as the gunfire continues. Three of them, including two with long guns, walk toward the gunshots as four others wait down the hallway.
11:36:57 More shots fired at officers and they run back down the hallway where the others are.
11:37:54 One officer armed with a pistol walks back toward the classrooms.
11:38:37 More gunfire
11:38:56 The officer who had walked back toward the classrooms, backs away again and joins the others.
11:40 He walks back toward classrooms but stays further away before retreating again.
11:44 As more law enforcement officers pour into the building, including some with high-powered guns and ballistic shields, shockingly no one approached the classrooms for the next 45 minutes.
12:03 p.m. The first 911 call comes in from a student inside room 112.
12:13 The same student calls again and she says 8 to 9 students are still alive. Police still do nothing.
12:19 Another 911 call from a different student in room 111 as the small army of officers continues to grow.
12:21 More gunshots heard coming from the classroom. Law enforcement moves closer down the hall, only to stall again for another 30 minutes.
More 911 calls came in over the next several minutes.
12:30 One officer casually uses hand sanitizer in the hallway before retreating back behind the wall.
12:36 The girl in room 112 calls 911 a third time, saying the gunman had shot the door. Still no action from law enforcement.
12:38 Two officers give each other a fist bump as they walk away from the classrooms where wounded students and teachers were likely bleeding out.
12:43 The girl again begs 911 to “Send help now.” Plenty of help remained in the hallway, just feed away, but they made no attempts to breach the classroom where survivors.
12:50 Law enforcement finally moves in and kills the shooter 77 minutes after the first officers arrive on the scene. It was too little, too late for the 21 victims who died.
UPDATE: One officer seen checking his phone at one point was trying to reach his wife, teacher Eva Mireles, who died in the shooting, according to State Rep. Joe Moody. Earlier reports said that officer tried to get to her after she told him she'd been shot and was dying, but other officers stopped him and even took his gun away.
RELATED: DPS: Husband of murdered Uvalde teacher knew she was shot. When he tried to help, he was detained
WARNING: Again, this real-time video from inside Robb Elementary doesn't include graphic or violent images, but does include gunfire and some may find it disturbing.
Community responds to release of video
The Uvalde mayor, city council members and some family members were upset at how the video was released.
On Wednesday, a father who lost his daughter, 9-year-old Jackie Cazares, in the shooting said he and his family are angry about how the video was released.
"We are pissed. These families didn't deserve it. I don't deserve it. That's a slap to our babies' faces," Javier Cazares said.
Cazares' niece, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, was also killed. She and Jackie were best friends.
Another father, whose son survived the shooting, directed his anger toward law enforcement.
"It's like PTSD. You see 'em and you just want to go after them, you know? Anger. Rage. They're just cowards. They need to resign," Adam Martinez said.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin blasted the decision to release the video before a planned Sunday Texas House committee meeting.
"I want to go on the record. The way that video was released today was one of the most chicken things I’ve ever seen," McLaughlin said.
He said the threat of legal action from the district attorney prevented him from releasing it earlier.
Committee Chairman Dustin Burrows said on Tuesday he planned to show the victims’ families video privately from after the gunman entered the room to before officers breached it.
"They were gonna see the video, but they didn’t need to see the gunman coming in and hear the gunshots," McLaughlin said.
"That was chicken**** to release that video the way you did. That part of the video was not supposed to be part of what they were doing Sunday," Uvalde City Council Member Earnest "Chip" King III said.
But some community members applauded the release. One responded to the council by asking if the responding officers were chickens.
"Y'all attacking the media, y'all aren’t attacking the cops that did nothing,” one upset community member said.
Families and members of the community have been calling for accountability and the release of the video for the seven weeks since the shooting took place.
"When I looked at that video and I saw the officers that were standing in that hallway doing nothing except standing back, I was very disappointed," another community member said.
RELATED: Arredondo's resignation accepted by Uvalde City Council; mayor criticizes release of hallway video
Even Gov. Greg Abbott called for its release on Monday.
Also at Tuesday's meeting, the council unanimously voted to accept Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo's resignation from the council.
Some members of the public want him gone as school district police chief.
The school board meets on July 18.
You can watch the full Uvalde City Council meeting below.