Newly-leaked video footage from Uvalde shows officers retreating in hallway after shots fired

New video footage taken by security cameras inside Robb Elementary School the day of the tragic shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead, shows police waiting in a hallway, failing to engage with the gunman, and retreating when they heard shots being fired.

The footage, obtained and released by the Austin-American Statesman on Tuesday, shows police huddling in a hallway near the classrooms where the gunman carried out the killings. Officers enter the school and some are seen running directly toward the gunman, while others position themselves further back in the hallway. When a string of gunshots ring out in the hallway, the officers who had run toward the shooter are seen retreating back to join the other officers away from the gunman’s location.

At one point, an officer can be seen using the hand sanitizer station in the school hallway. The video also shows two officers fist-bumping each other as they huddle down the hall from where the gunman killed students in two rooms. It took more than an hour for police to engage directly with the 18-year old shooter and fatally shoot him. Their response to the shooting has been the subject of national scrutiny and official investigations.

The source of the leaked footage remains unclear, but the Texas Department of Public Safety expressed disappointment over the video’s release, saying it was wrong to let the public see the footage before the families of the victims had a chance.

DPS Director Steven C. McCraw said he was “deeply disappointed this video was released before all of the families who were impacted that day and the community of Uvalde had the opportunity to view it.” He added, “Those most affected should have been among the first to see it,” McCraw said. “DPS will not be providing the video at this time.”