At least two dozen heavily armed officers arrived at the school, but failed to confront the shooter for 77 minutes.
The Texas newspaper that published the leaked Uvalde school shooting video is facing intense backlash.
The footage shows the shooter entering the school and police waiting 77 minutes before taking him down. It was obtained by investigative reporter Tony Plohetski of the Austin American Statesman and KVUE-TV.
“This is not a decision that we have taken lightly. We have carefully considered what we are doing here. We know that there will be people out there who maybe do not agree with our decision to air these clips,” Plohetski said.
Several victims’ family members are angry that they didn’t get to view the video first. At a council meeting, the mayor of Uvalde called the news organizations “chicken” for releasing the video.
But others say the criticism is misdirected and should be directed toward the responding officers.
The harrowing video begins at 11:28 a.m, as the killer crashed his car outside the school. Three minutes later, he fired at the building. A teacher inside frantically called 911, screaming at the kids to take cover.
At 11:33 a.m., the killer walked into the school, took a right and sauntered down the corridor, casually flicking his hair.
A youngster came out of the bathroom and noticed the gunman. As the rampage began, the boy turned and ran for cover.
There were multiple bursts of gunfire, but the sound of the children's screams were removed.
Three minutes later, the first cops arrived. They moved in to confront the killer, but were repelled and grazed by bullets.
Over the next 20 minutes, more heavily armed law enforcement officers arrived and crowded into the hallway. They wore helmets and carried ballistic shields, but still hung back.
Some moments are triggering pure disbelief. Two cops fist-bumped each other. Another strolled over to a mounted dispenser and sanitized his hands.
Finally, at 12:50 p.m. they made their move. One hour and 17 minutes after the nightmare began, it was over.
Now the cops must answer why it took so long.
On Sunday, the committee investigating the shooting will meet with the victims’ families to discuss its preliminary report.
