It’s been three years since the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. It is one of the deadliest school shootings in history, with 19 fourth graders and two teachers being killed. For many, the shooting is a standout because of the incredibly delayed police response once authorities knew 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos had fired the first shot. Since the shooting, many grief stricken families have urged the police to release body cam footage, hoping it would give insight into exactly what happened that day. Now, that has happened.
On August 12, 2025, the final batch of documents withheld from the public after the Uvalde shooting were released, the Associated Press reported. Those documents include police body cam footage, which shows a frustrating amount of inaction and confusion on their part. It took authorities over an hour to confront Ramos after he began shooting.
In the footage, officers from multiple departments are seen standing in school hallways trying to figure out what to do. Some are suggesting tear gas, while others are trying to find a key to the locked classroom, but it isn’t clear who is in charge.
“We can’t see him at all,” an officer involved in the initial response can be heard saying in one video, per the AP. “We were at the front and he started shooting.”
An officer wearing a body cam responded, asking, “He’s in a classroom right?” Another officer responds “With kids.”
“Something needs to be done ASAP,” someone else can be heard saying.
Additional footage shows parents swarming the fence outside the school, desperately pleading with police to take action.
“Either you go in or I’m going in bro,” one parent says angrily. “My kids are in there, bro. … Please!” the person pleads. Another parent can be heard asking “Whose class is he in?” while another yells, “Come on man, my daughter is in there!”
A woman who claimed to be a relative of Ramos can be heard sobbing and begging police to “take him out.”
Parents begged law enforcement to act faster at the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 13, 2025
Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman.
This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted because it misstated the year the shooting occurred. pic.twitter.com/vnHOWb1JRg
Family members of the victims, including Jesse Rizo, uncle of 9-year-old victim Jackie Cazares, were integral to getting the footage released, NBC News reported.
“When a shooter comes in and destroys the community and causes a ripple effect, this is the reality. And you cannot shy away from it,” Rizo said. Following the shooting, he was elected to the school board.
He has been talking to family members, and some have revealed that they’re not ready to watch videos or read the documents yet. “For those that are ready for it, I hope that it provides some kind of healing,” he told the news outlet.
The documents released give some of the most detailed insight into who Ramos was before the shooting. He had multiple suspensions for harassment and bullying going all the way back to middle school, according to AP, and months before the shooting, he dropped out of school.
Sheriff’s deputies visited the home where he lived with his mother on two consecutive nights, months before the shooting. His mother, Adriana Reyes, told officers that she needed help. He hadn’t hit her, but she was scared of him.
Only two officers are facing criminal charges for their inaction on May 24, 2022. Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde schools police chief, and another former school district officer, Adrian Gonzales, have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment, NBC News reported. Their trial is scheduled for later this year.
