UVALDE - – The full Texas House Investigative Report, as well as hallway and body cam footage from inside Robb Elementary have now been released.
However the shooting victims’ families are telling their state Senator Roland Gutierrez that’s not enough.
“Dude, we got to get in there. We got to get in there. This kid’s shooting,” one of the officers could be heard yelling on his bodycam video during the first moments when shots rang out inside Robb Elementary.
Still, no one did go in the classroom for 73 minutes.
That sense of urgency faded, with the new report calling the officers inside “lackadaisical.”
On another officer’s bodycam footage, law enforcement seem confused about what to do next, saying, “The ranger said they have a set of keys but I don’t know. They said they’re testing them.”
Gutierrez is keying in on those Texas Rangers and the whole state response.
“The families in my district expect to know who is responsible for their inaction,” he said.
Gutierrez announced late last month that he is suing the Texas Department of Public Safety for not releasing requested information on the shooting response. He said he has been unlawfully denied access to the records after putting in an open records request.
Now, the investigative report and video have been released.
When asked if that suffices for his request, he said, “No not at all. We asked where DPS troopers were situated, when they arrived, where they went, who ordered them. None of that is in this report.”
FULL REPORT: Read the Texas House report on Uvalde school shooting, failed police response
Gutierrez has a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 4, when he said he’ll ask for more details about who knew what.
“We see a Texas Ranger walking around for 20 minutes, he’s followed by the game warden, with the schematic of the school. Then both of those guys are talking to somebody. I need to know who they were talking to, who was calling the shots for the Department of Public Safety and why it is they just didn’t do anything either,” Gutierrez said of the surveillance footage released.
Two weeks after the massacre, Gutierrez set up a field office in Uvalde. He said he speaks to victims’ families daily.
“I’ll talk to one or two or three of them every day. Yesterday, I talked to three of them,” he said.
Those grieving, angry families said they are looking for more than answers. They want accountability.
Families of shooting victims, community members react to Robb Elementary report
“I want to know at what level the Department of Public Safety, how high up that food chain they got for someone to say: ‘go in, or don’t go in, or wait, or listen to that guy’. Because what we know from this cross- examination is that they weren’t listening to Pete Arredondo. They weren’t taking orders from Pete Arredondo,” he said.
Gutierrez previously said he believes the state is using Uvalde CISD Police Chief Arredondo as a scape goat, something DPS leadership denies.
“If a school cop that’s in charge of breaking up cafeteria fights is the guy in charge, then we’ve got a real problem in Texas because we had 91 state troopers there. We had over 140 federal officers,” Gutierrez said.
One thing Gutierrez said he appreciated about the report was the lack of “finger pointing.” He now wants everyone to own up to their role.
Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Monday on the Texas House of Representatives’ investigative report into the shooting at Robb Elementary School:
“I want to thank Speaker Phelan and the Texas House for their investigation and for sharing a detailed account directly with the victims’ families and the Uvalde community. The findings in their investigative report are beyond disturbing and raise serious concerns about the response that day. There are critical changes needed as a result of the Texas House’s findings. With multiple investigations still ongoing, including those by the Texas Senate, FBI, and Texas Rangers, we will begin working with the legislature to develop and implement the necessary changes to improve public safety, school safety, and mental health assessment and treatment.”
Gutierrez has also requested Abbott to call a special session to talk about raising the age requirement to buy an assault weapon, from 18 to 21.
In response, Abbott’s press secretary, Renae Eze wrote in a statement:
“Governor Abbott has taken immediate action to address all aspects of the heinous crime committed in Uvalde, requesting the Texas legislature also work on legislative recommendations to make schools safer, including considering school safety, mental health, firearm safety, police training, social media, and more. As Governor Abbott has said from day one, all options remain on the table as he continues working with state and local leaders to prevent future tragedies and deploy all available resources to support the Uvalde community as they heal. More announcements are expected in the coming days and weeks as the legislature deliberates proposed solutions.”
Parents in Uvalde and across the state know time is of the essence since Texas schools will be back in session in just 27 days.