Experience the Story in English
On May 24, 2022, an armed man walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and opened fire in a classroom, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Since that day, the response from law enforcement has been heavily scrutinized by the victims’ families, lawmakers, the media, and the general public. Not only has the response been questioned, but also the handling of the investigation.
Shortly after the shooting, media outlets across the country, including KSAT, filed open records requests to obtain all available documentation to the public under the Open Records Law, in an effort to help our audience better understand what transpired that day. This resulted in a lawsuit to fight for the release of that information.
After over two years, a judge recently ordered the City of Uvalde to disclose all body camera footage, patrol car videos, 911 calls, radio transmissions, and other relevant documents for the investigation.
Those records were released on Saturday.
KSAT has chosen to publish most of the documentation we received to allow the public to see what happened that day. The redactions in the documents, blurring in videos, and audio editing were done by the City of Uvalde and approved by the attorneys representing all media outlets. Out of respect for the victims’ families, KSAT has decided not to publish the 911 calls made by students inside the school.
Although the video is difficult to watch and the audio hard to hear, we have made the decision to present everything to our audience as it was given to us. We believe the public has the right to know what happened that day.
Spanish Version of Laura Prather’s statement, President of Haynes Boone Media Law, leading the litigation:
“Agradecemos que la ciudad de Uvalde esté dando este paso hacia la transparencia. Durante más de dos años, nuestro equipo de Haynes Boone ha luchado por la publicación de registros relacionados con el trágico tiroteo masivo en la Escuela Primaria Robb. Todavía estamos esperando que Uvalde CISD, el condado de Uvalde y el DPS de Texas publiquen docenas de entrevistas, cientos de vídeos de cámaras corporales y miles de archivos de investigación. La transparencia es necesaria para ayudar a Uvalde a sanar y permitirnos a todos entender lo que sucedió y aprender cómo prevenir futuras tragedias”.
Original Version:
“We’re thankful the City of Uvalde is taking this step toward transparency. For more than two years, our Haynes Boone team has fought for the release of records related to the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary. We’re still waiting on Uvalde CISD, Uvalde County and Texas DPS to release dozens of interviews, hundreds of body camera videos and thousands of investigative files. Transparency is necessary to help Uvalde heal and allow us all to understand what happened and learn how to prevent future tragedies.”
Coverage on KSAT.com:
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