Video Capture / KVUE
Officers are shown massing the hall of Robb Elementary School as a gunman remains in the classroom where he shot students and teachers.
The video was released Tuesday by the Austin American-Statesman and TV station KVUE ahead of the clip's planned release Sunday by a state elected official. Families of the May 24 shooting's 21 victims have repeatedly called for transparency about the police response, maintaining that delays likely increased the death toll of the tragic incident.
“Both media outlets have elected to release that footage Tuesday to provide transparency to the community, showing what happened as officials waited to enter that classroom,” KVUE said in the story posted on its website.
The video shows the black-garbed gunman enter Robb Elementary School with a semi-automatic rifle after crashing his truck near the campus. A child walking the hall spots the gunman and runs before he comes into the line of fire.
In the clip, the gunman begins shooting before he even enters the classroom where the bloodbath played out. Screams are audible between bursts of gunfire after he breaches the room.
Police arrive three minutes after the gunman, according to the timer on the clip. However, they retreat to the end of a hallway after the intruder fires on them, and the remainder of the video shows law enforcement officials continuing to gather in the hall, bringing more and more equipment.
"In the video, 13 rifles can be seen arriving in the hallway in the first 30 minutes of the incident," KVUE reports. "The first shield arrives in under 20 minutes. Dozens of law enforcement officers can be seen in the hallway, along with equipment."
The lengthy delay seen as police gather in the hallway backs up Texas Department of Public Safety reports that officers waited more than hour after the shooting began to take down the suspect.
Earlier on Tuesday, State Rep. Dustin Burrows, who heads a committee investigating the shooting, said he planned to release the footage Sunday, first to family members, then to the public.
In a tweet after the video's early release, Burrows said he's "glad that a small portion is now available for the public." However, the Lubbock Republican added that viewing the entire clip is important.
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