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Uvalde Police Failed to Turn Over All Body Camera Footage — ProPublica

Uvalde Police Failed to Turn Over All Body Camera Footage — ProPublica

Officials in Uvalde, Texas, revealed Wednesday that they failed to release some police body camera and dashboard footage related to the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School, as required by a settlement agreement with news organizations that sued for access.

After the city released hundreds of records Saturday to news organizations, including ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, an officer informed the Uvalde Police Department that some of his body camera footage from the May 24, 2022 shooting was missing, according to a news release. from the city.

In response, Police Chief Homer Delgado ordered a review of the department’s servers, which turned up “several additional videos.” The city did not say which officers or cruisers the missing photos belonged to.

According to information initially provided by Uvalde police to Texas Department of Public Safety investigators, seven of the 25 responding officers had their body cameras turned on the day of the shooting. Records released Saturday contained only footage from five of the officers’ body cameras. Whether the city’s discovery of additional footage is limited to the two remaining body cameras or includes additional footage from more officers is unknown.

The department shared the newly discovered images with District Attorney Christina Mitchell for review. Delgado also ordered an internal investigation into how the error occurred. That investigation will determine which department employees are responsible and what disciplinary action may be warranted, according to the news release.

“I have ordered an immediate review of all film collection and storage protocols within UPD and will begin a new process to ensure our department lives up to the highest standards,” Delgado, who joined the department last year, said in a statement. “The Uvalde community and the public deserve nothing less.”

It is unclear whether Mitchell, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, had access to the footage as she evaluated whether officers should be charged for the botched response to the shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

A grand jury in June charged former Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and Officer Adrian Gonzales on charges of child endangerment. Both men pleaded guilty. No unelected police officers have been prosecuted.

News organizations, including the Tribune and ProPublica, sued several local and state agencies more than two years ago for access to records related to the shooting. The city settled with the new organizations and agreed to provide records that had been requested under the state’s Public Information Act, including body camera footage of all responding officers. Three other state agencies — the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office — continue to fight not to release any records.

City officials did not respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that they would evaluate the judge’s order to release documents to ensure they comply with the terms of the settlement reached with the news organizations.

Reid Pillifant, an associate attorney with Haynes Boone, a law firm representing the news organizations, said he appreciated the police department’s “quick response in conducting an audit to ensure that all relevant material is shared with the public as soon as possible.”

Tribune, ProPublica and FRONTLINE independently obtained a wealth of investigative material through a confidential source. This collection includes body camera footage of two Uvalde police officers — Jesus Mendoza and Joe Zamora — that were not released Saturday. Newsrooms analyzed Mendoza’s 25-minute body camera footage and his interview with state investigators as part of an investigation into the failed law enforcement response to included a documentary and revealed that while the kids knew what to do when confronted by a mass shooter, many police officers did not.

Zamora’s body camera footage, which is only about eight minutes long, appears to show him at the house belonging to the gunman’s grandmother, who the teenager shot in the face before going to school.

In the footage, a crying woman is heard saying: “I knew it was my nephew.” She adds, “he didn’t want to live anymore.”

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