The Uvalde County Commissioners voted on Monday to release long-withheld records related to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting.
FILE - In this photo from surveillance video provided by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District via the Austin American-Statesman, authorities stage in a hallway as they respond to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2022.
The former Uvalde schools police chief and another former officer have been indicted over their role in the slow police response to the 2022 massacre in a Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, according to multiple reports Thursday, June 27, 2024. UVALDE, Texas - The Uvalde County Commissioners voted on Monday to release long-withheld records related to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting. This follows a July 22 unanimous vote by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District board to release the records.These decisions come after a major legal ruling earlier this month mandating both agencies comply with the Texas Public Information Act. The Texas Fourth Court of Appeals upheld a 2024 district court ruling that found Uvalde County and UCISD improperly withheld public documents, such as police body camera footage, 911 audio, internal communications, and law enforcement radio traffic. "It's a victory for transparency. It's a victory for the parents, of course, most of all," said Commissioner Ronald Garza, who represents Precinct 4.We asked Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell what kinds of documents might be included in the release. We know the City of Uvalde released text messages, emails, audio, and body camera videos as part of their collection of documents. "I have not seen any documents of any kind whatsoever, other than what I've seen on the media," Mitchell said. He says the county attorney is handling the documents that will eventually be released.He attended the meeting to read statements from some of the parents who lost children that day. Though some community members don't want the records released, he says the information will help families move forward and understand what happened that day. "It may hurt instantly, but in the long run, you're gonna be way better off being transparent," Rizo said."They have to look at the bigger picture and have to decide, do we want to rebuild? We're fractured. We have to recognize that. What do we do in order to get past that bridge? And that is, we have to do actions such as the one that was taken today."Behind the legal push was Texas law firm Haynes Boone, which argued the public has a right to know what happened during the 77-minute police delay in confronting the gunman. Families of victims, who attended both meetings, said the decisions marked an emotional milestone, but not closure. While no release date has been set, officials pledged that the families will be notified before the records are made public. However, the fight for full transparency continues. The Texas Department of Public Safety remains in a legal standoff over its refusal to release additional documents that could shed light on the decisions made during the 77-minute delay in confronting the shooter. Haynes Boone argued that case before the Fifteenth Court of Appeals in October after a lower court ruled in favor of the media coalition. DPS appealed the decision, and the matter is pending.
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