Family members of the victims of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting where 19 students and two teachers died, recently got a look at newly released files from the Uvalde Consolidated School District and Uvalde County from the day of the shooting. More than three years after the tragedy, their suffering lingers without answers to their questions about how the security protocols failed that day.
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For more than three years, family members of the victims of the Uvalde school shooting have waited for access to records of that day. Nineteen students and two teachers died in that shooting back in May of 2022, after law enforcement took more than an hour to confront the gunman. The victims’ families believe that the records might reveal whether children could have been saved if law enforcement had acted more quickly. But the documents released last week gave rise to even more questions for the families. Jerry Clayton from Texas Public Radio has more.
JERRY CLAYTON, BYLINE: Uvalde school administrators last week released the files, including video, text, emails and other materials. Uvalde County officials also released their files. A law firm representing several news organizations sent a letter this week demanding the school district, the county and the Department of Public Safety release additional files.
Manuel Rizo is the uncle and godfather of 9-year-old fourth grader Jackie Cazares, who was killed in the attack. He’s seen most of the released material. He says he’s disappointed that all the files related to the shooting have not been released. Rizo says most of the video released from the county was sound only because officers had put on their body armor over their body-worn cameras.
MANUEL RIZO: And they had close to 77 minutes to clear that mistake and put their body cameras in front of their armor, and they chose not to.
CLAYTON: A district judge ordered the state in June 2023 to release the video and other documents that would likely give a clearer picture of the botched response by law enforcement. The DPS has appealed that decision. Now in Texas’ second special legislative session, Governor Greg Abbott is pushing for a new law that would limit the release of information to the public by law enforcement. Families fear that if that bill passes, they may never fully see what happened on that day. Jackie’s mother, Gloria Cazares, spoke before the Uvalde School District Board in July.
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GLORIA CAZARES: You all owe it to Jackie, to her classmates, to her teachers and to every single family member that has forever been changed.
CLAYTON: Manuel Rizo says his niece might still be alive had it not been for the mistakes made by law enforcement.
RIZO: She was one of the victims who still was alive when they moved her out of the classroom, and she died at the hospital.
CLAYTON: More than a dozen officers have been disciplined since the shooting. The school police chief at the time and another former officer faced child endangerment charges. For ReadNOW News, I’m Jerry Clayton in San Antonio.
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