Cops responding to the Uvalde, Texas school shooting ran away from gunshots and left 19 students and two teachers to die inside the classroom as gunman Salvador Ramos went on with his carnage, according to new video footage published on Tuesday. The footage obtained by the Austin-American Statesman, shows how the police did nothing to confront Ramos.
The leaked video shows Ramos, 18, stalking the hallways of Robb Elementary in Uvalde on May as police waited outside doing nothing. It also shows how a sheriff's deputy Felix Rubio, whose daughter was one of the victims, was restrained by two cops while wiping away tears as Ramos carried out his vicious rampage inside the classroom down the hallway.
Incompetent Police
The disturbing video footage shows how Ramos first stalked the hallways and then went inside a classroom and went on his rampage, killing 21 people, including 19 students. A young boy can be seen on the screen edging into the corner before turning around and fleeing after spotting the shooter.
The 77-minute video then shows police racing into the school just minutes after Ramos goes on his carnage. However, instead of confronting him, they stayed back, the video shows. One officer with a helmet and vest can even be seen using a wall-mounted hand sanitizer and checking his phone.
A later segment shows officers moving down the hallway before all the 17 cowardly officers flee back the way they came and away from the 18-year-old shooter.
Sometime later, sheriff's deputy Rubio is seen in the hallway. His daughter was one of the victims of the massacre. He wasn't aware of it at that time and tried to enter the classroom to rescue his daughter and other children trapped inside. However, the video shows Rubio being restrained by two cops as he wiped away tears.
The distraught father was seen with his hand clasped over his mouth, fearing for the life of his 10-year-old daughter Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, who was subsequently found dead. Despite the bloodshed all around him, one brazen cop was seen stepping in front of him and applying hand sanitizer with a wall mount.
No One to Help
The footage has already been viewed by Austin American-Statesman and KVUE's Tony Plohetski. According to award-winning investigative journalist Plohetski, one security camera positioned inside the school at the end of a hallway documented " the horror and devastating law enforcement mistakes."
KVUE reported that within the first 30 minutes of police arrival, 13 firearms are visible on the surveillance tape, and a shield arrives within 20 minutes.
In response to the release of the footage, Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw said: "I am deeply disappointed this video was released before all of the families who were impacted that day...Those most affected should have been among the first to see it."
The video supports damning reports that despite being only a few yards away from the shooter, local and state authorities did nothing to stop the massacre right away.
In the footage, heavily armed cops can be seen moving around the corridor, going out and returning back, chatting with one another, and placing calls during crucial moments when they could have been trying to stop Ramos.
Agents from the border patrol didn't enter the classrooms until 12:52 pm or 77 minutes into the footage when they entered the classroom and killed the shooter.
"Most of the video from inside the school is captured by a wide-angle camera positioned inside the school building's northwest entrance, the same one the gunman used," the Texas Tribune reported.
"The camera looks straight south from its north ceiling perch and offers a slight view of the entrances to classrooms 111 and 112 to the left."
In these 77 minutes, Ramos fired over 100 rounds, killing 19 students, as police waited outside. The Texas police earlier said that they were unable to open the doors to the classrooms where students and teachers were congregated because a key didn't fit.
Some children managed to escape through windows with the aid of authorities while parents and family members of Robb Elementary students waited nervously outside the school for information.
Children were pulled out of windows and guided to safety during the shooting by Border Patrol agents and local police.
