UVALDE, Texas — KVUE and our parent company TEGNA have joined a media coalition of local and national news organizations as part of an effort to learn the details of what happened at Robb Elementary School when 19 children and two teachers were killed on May 24.
A total of 21 lives were lost inside Robb Elementary School and many others were injured in late May when a gunman entered the school and opened fire. Since then, details about the response have trickled out to the public.
Now, a media coalition has sent a letter to the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding numerous public information requests served to the Texas Department of Public Safety in connection to the Uvalde mass shooting.
The letter states that exemptions to the Public Information Act claimed by DPS to withhold information from the response in Uvalde do not apply to the previous requests made.
Multiple media outlets have filed requests seeking:
- Recordings of 911 calls, radio traffic, computer-aided dispatch (CAD) transmissions and other phone calls reporting and responding to the incident at Robb Elementary;
- Recordings of body camera footage and dashboard camera footage from responding officers,
- Surveillance footage from inside Robb Elementary;
- Timelines, interview records, notes and other materials collected or maintained by DPS;
- Incident reports, toxicology reports, ballistic reports and other reports;
- Lists of DPS personnel who responded to Robb Elementary, including ranks, positions, titles and years of service.
"As explained in detail below, we believe that the exceptions claimed by DPS do not apply to the Requests. The public has already received selective access to much of the information at issue, and, as a result, DPS is required to release that information to all Requestors," the letter reads.
The group sending the letter includes NBC News, The New York Times Company, Gannett, Univision, the Texas Tribune and others. Eleven TEGNA stations are also part of the group, including KVUE-TV, KHOU-TV in Houston, WFAA-TV in Dallas and KENS-TV in San Antonio.
Read the full letter here.
MORE ON THE UVALDE SHOOTING:
- Uvalde sheriff says he will testify to Texas House committee about Robb shooting response
- Uvalde mom who ran into school to save kids says police are harassing her for speaking out
- Report shows three missed opportunities to slow Uvalde school shooter
- Gov. Abbott asked to remove head of Uvalde's victim assistance center 'after numerous complaints'
- After Uvalde shooting, Texas leaders will spend more than $100 million on school safety, mental health