Uvalde Police Failed to Turn Over All Body Camera Footage From Robb Elementary Shooting, Department Says

After an officer noticed that part of his bodycam footage was absent from a recently released trove of records, an audit found “several additional videos” that were not included. It’s unclear if prosecutors previously had access to this video.

by Zach Despart, The Texas Tribune, and Lomi Kriel, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune
Co-published with The Texas Tribune
Aug. 14, 4:20 p.m. CDT

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

After the city released hundreds of records on 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 an audit of the department’s servers, which turned up “several additional videos.” The city did not say which officers or cruisers the missing footage belonged to.

According to information that Uvalde police initially provided 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 on Saturday only included footage from five of the officers’ body cameras. Whether the city’s discovery of additional materials is limited to the two remaining body cameras or includes additional footage from more officers is unknown.

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