KXAN records request for Uvalde school video denied

Days after surveillance video from the Uvalde school shooting was leaked, KXAN's own request to the district attorney to obtain the same footage was denied.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Days after surveillance video from the Uvalde school shooting was leaked, KXAN's own request to the district attorney to obtain the same footage was denied.

On Tuesday, the 77-minute video from inside Robb Elementary as the May 24 shooting took place was leaked to the Austin American-Statesman.

KXAN first sent a request for the video to the Texas Department of Public Safety on May 31. An additional request was sent to Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee on July 9.

Busbee replied with a document rejecting KXAN's request on July 14.

Part of the document read, "Any release of records to that incident [May 24 Robb Elementary Shooting] at this time would interfere with said ongoing investigation and would impede a thorough and complete investigation."

A Texas House committee tasked with investigating the circumstances around the shooting planned to first play the video for families impacted by the shooting in a private viewing Sunday, then release it publicly.

DA Busbee previously told Texas DPS not to release the video, according to a DPS letter, but a lawmaker said on Twitter he would release the video to the Uvalde community and families with or without her permission.

We spoke with the father of one child who was killed in the shooting. He said the video leak caught him off guard and upset him.

“It was kind of hard to hear the rounds firing, knowing where those bullets went,” Alfred Garza III, father of 10-year-old Amerie Jo, said.