On Saturday, Uvalde city officials released thousands of documents and hours of video and audio recordings including a frantic 911 call from the uncle of the Robb Elementary School gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers.
The trove of material including text messages, emails, bodycam and dashcam video followed a lawsuit filed by Scripps News and several news organizations.
On May 24, 2022, the day of the mass shooting, a man called 911 and identified himself as Armando Ramos, the uncle of the gunman. The man on the phone sounded concerned and nervous as he pleaded to talk to his nephew, and offered to help police talk down his nephew.
“Everything I tell him he does listen to me,” Ramos said. “Maybe he can stand down or do something or turn himself in.”
During the call, Ramos said his nephew was with him the night before the shooting and was upset with his grandmother because she was “bugging” him.
The call from Ramos came after authorities confronted and killed the gunman, according to detailed information released.
The school shooter had shot and injured his grandmother the morning of the massacre before heading to Robb Elementary School, according to authorities. A neighbor who lived across the street from the shooter told Scripps News the gunman’s grandmother was covered in blood the day off the mass shooting.
REALTED STORY | Uvalde families sue FedEx, UPS for alleged role in school shooting
Redacted audio recordings released
Audio recordings released by city officials included redacted 911 calls from students in classrooms 111 and 112. One student can be heard on a call telling the operator the teacher was dead and said there were a lot of dead bodies before getting emotional and revealing to the operation that they did not want to die.
Police body camera footage released
In body cam video, a responding officer inside the school is heard telling another officer to “get the shields” and another responds, “wait, I’ll see if I can talk to him.” Moments later, an officer is heard saying, “we all want to get in there, trust me.”
Nearly 400 law enforcement officers waited more than 70 minutes outside the classroom before they confronted the gunman, according to the investigation.
DOJ report
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice released a nearly 600-page report on it’s Critical Incident Review. The report highlighted what officials called, “cascading failures” and determined the officers acted with no urgency.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | Uvalde School Board Fires Police Chief Arredondo After Mass Shooting
In June, the former Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo, was indicted for his role in the slow response to the mass shooting. Former school officer Adrian Gonzales also faces criminal charges for his response. Arredondo and Gonzales have pled not guilty to multiple charges of child abandonment.
Arredondo’s legal counsel says he did his best with the information he had at the time.
Scripps News continues to comb through the significant material released.
