In Austin, Texas, a sense of despair from parents, bewildered police officers, and the horrifying scene encountered by emergency crews at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, come to light.
Recently released records about the May 2022 massacre, including numerous pages of files and hours of body camera footage, offer a detailed look at the sorrow and failures associated with one of the most devastating school shootings in U.S. history, where 19 children and two teachers lost their lives.
The documents provide an in-depth portrayal of the teenage gunman and the actions of the numerous law enforcement officers who arrived at the rural South Texas school. These records, once withheld, have been released following a lengthy legal struggle for public access, strongly urged by the victims’ families.
Despite state and federal investigations over the past three years that have scrutinized the shooting, the newly revealed documents offer fresh insights into the chaos and hesitancy of law enforcement, who delayed more than an hour to confront the shooter.
Parents are heard begging police to stop the gunman
The early narrative claiming police swiftly moved to confront and neutralize 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos was quickly refuted by parents outside the school, pleading for officers to intervene or allow them access to their kids. Audio released Tuesday captures their urgent appeals.
“Whose class is he in?” one parent can be heard asking on a deputy’s body camera. Another comes up and yells, “Come on man, my daughter is in there!”
Their pleas continued.
“Either you go in or I’m going in bro,” one parent says, adding seconds later, “My kids are in there, bro. … Please!”
Some officers called for immediate action. A deputy who initially responded to Ramos shooting his grandmother before the school attack hurried to campus upon hearing the first gunshots. As he put on his ballistic vest, he stated, “Something needs to be done, ASAP.”
After some children run from the school and officers report finding an AR-15 rifle, one officer can be heard saying, “We need to get in there, fast.”
It would be another hour before law enforcement breached the classroom and killed Ramos.
Gunman’s mother told deputies she was scared of son months before attack
Law enforcement records showed sheriff’s deputies were called to a physical disturbance at the home of Ramos’ mother, Adriana Reyes, a few months before the attack. She told deputies that he became angry and kicked a wireless modem after she turned off the internet. She had to hold him down to calm him, according to an incident report.
She told deputies Ramos never hit her, but they made a note in their report: “Ms Reyes stated she was scared of Salvador and wanted help.” Ramos’ grandmother took him to her house and deputies took no further action.
Ramos would end up shooting his grandmother before attacking the school. She survived.
School records, meanwhile, showed a pattern of spiraling trouble that emerged at a young age.
Ramos was described as a “motivated thinker and learner” in kindergarten, but by middle school he was getting suspended or disciplined for harassment and bullying. He also failed to meet minimum statewide testing standards.
In October 2021 — seven months before the shooting — Ramos withdrew from high school because of “poor academic performance, lack of attendance.” Records showed he failed nearly all his classes.
Video shows officers unsure of shooter’s location
Some officers were initially unsure about just where Ramos was, how they might get to him and whether children might be trapped or hiding. Some tried finding a way in but also knew Ramos was heavily armed.
Crouched behind the school building sizing up an assault on the classroom from the outside, an officer says, “I just don’t want to be crawling and he’s just looking down on me.”
Former school police chief Pete Arredondo, who has been described as the incident commander, can be heard shouting to Ramos, asking him put down his weapon. “These are innocent children. We don’t want anyone else hurt. Please talk to me,” but there is no response.
Once police realized there were children hiding in other classrooms, Arredondo is heard telling officers crouched around him they want to clear those rooms before breaching the classroom where Ramos is holed up.
“We don’t know if there are kids in there,” Arredondo says. “We’re gonna save the lives of the other ones.”
What comes next
The law enforcement response included local, state and federal officers, but Arredondo and former school district police officer Adrian Gonzales are the only two to face criminal charges. Both face multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment and have pleaded not guilty.
Arredondo has said he has been wrongly scapegoated as the one to blame for mistakes that day. The indictment against Arredondo contends that he didn’t follow his active shooter training and made critical decisions that slowed the police response while the gunman was “hunting” victims.
Trial is set for October. Gonzales on Monday requested that his trial be moved out of Uvalde County, arguing he cannot receive a fair trial in the community.
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Associated Press reporters John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
