Investigative report into the Uvalde elementary school shooting could be released within 10 days
(CNN) — The Texas House Investigative Committee’s preliminary report into the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde could be released within the next 10 days, and the chairman of the committee is pushing for the report to include the critical 77-minute “hallway” surveillance video, according to a source close to the committee.
Rep. Dustin Burrows, the committee chairman, is not pushing for the release of the video showing victims or footage of violence, per the source.
The shooting took place May 24, when a gunman fatally shot 19 young students and two teachers inside a classroom before authorities breached the door more than an hour later — after waiting in a school hallway.
Burrows is prohibited from releasing the 77-minute “hallway” video of the law enforcement response because he signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Texas Department of Public Safety, he said on Twitter on Friday.
Burrows attached two letters to his tweet. In one letter, he asked the DPS for permission to release the video to the public. The other letter is a response from DPS saying that the agency agrees that the video will bring “clarity to the public regarding the tragic events in Uvalde,” but that the Uvalde district attorney “has objected to releasing the video.”
Burrow’s tweet states that the video he is pushing to release “contains no imagery of victims or footage of violence.”
The committee’s next hearing is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. CT in Austin.
On Thursday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin refuted a new assessment of the law enforcement response to the shooting, saying that the report by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center “does not give a complete and accurate account of what happened.”
McLaughlin took issue with the first part of the report, which said a Uvalde police officer with a rifle spotted the gunman outside the school, but a supervisor either did not hear the officer or responded too late when the officer asked for permission to fire.
“No Uvalde police department officer saw the shooter on May 24 prior to him entering the school,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “No Uvalde police officers had any opportunity to take a shot at the gunman.”
CNN reached out to Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee on Friday and on Sunday asking her to comment on why she objects to the release of the video but has not heard back.
According to the same source, the Texas House Investigative Committee’s preliminary report will clarify conflicting accounts from previous reviews of what happened on May 24. The report will include verbatim quotes from sworn testimony, the source said.
The witnesses scheduled to testify at Monday’s hearing are DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw, ALERRT Assistant Director John Curnutt, and Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco.
Nolasco told CNN on Sunday his testimony will be through video conference, not in person.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) created the three-member committee last month. Burrows, a Republican, was appointed chairman; Rep. Joe Moody (D) was appointed vice-chair, and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman is a member.
The purpose of the investigative committee is a fact-finding one. Two other House committees, Youth Health & Safety and Homeland Security & Public Safety, will be tasked with making legislative recommendations.