UVALDE, Texas — Newly released Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District records provide additional detail about campus safety concerns and the 18-year-old gunman’s behavior prior to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. The disclosures, totaling about 200 megabytes, were released late Monday under a settlement with news organizations that sued state and local agencies for access to investigative materials.
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The documents include messages from district police and administrators, emails about door lock issues, and notes on the gunman’s academic struggles and disciplinary warnings. They add context to earlier findings that multiple law enforcement agencies failed to confront the gunman for 77 minutes after classifying him as a barricaded subject rather than an active shooter.
Campus Security Concerns and Door Lock Failures
Administrators documented longstanding problems with exterior and interior door locks. Witnesses told a state House committee that doors were often left unlocked and propped open with rocks, wedges, and magnets, reports MySanAntonio.
The shooter entered the building through an unlocked exterior door, according to the legislative investigation. Emails show district leaders met with a lock company owner less than a month before the shooting to discuss automatic locks for exterior doors.
Behavioral Warnings and Academic Struggles of the Uvalde Shooter
Emails and intervention plans indicate teachers repeatedly warned the shooter’s mother beginning in 2018 about inappropriate behavior, including drawing explicit images during class and using sexual language. Records also show the shooter, who was a student at a nearby high school and was a former student at Robb Elementary, frequently missed school, failed multiple classes, and was the subject of academic intervention plans recommending one-on-one tutoring and parent conferences.
Former Superintendent Hal Harrell noted the shooter’s chronic absenteeism and failing grades. The student eventually dropped out, and his mother told law enforcement before the attack that she was scared of her son.
Law Enforcement’s Delayed Response and Missteps
Internal messages from district officers who responded to the shooting corroborate earlier reporting that no single commander took control, which hindered communication and coordination among more than 300 responding officers from multiple agencies, reports CNN.
News organizations previously reported that officers misclassified the situation, delayed engagement, and did not follow active shooter protocols. A U.S. Department of Justice report in January 2024 affirmed those findings and recommended at least eight hours of annual active shooter training for all officers.
Body-Camera Footage and Investigative Records
The Uvalde CISD Police Department did not release new body-camera footage because district officers were not equipped with body cameras on the day of the shooting.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which deployed more than 90 officers to the school, has appealed a judge’s order to release hundreds of videos and investigative files. DPS spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said the agency follows a standard protocol not to release records that could affect pending prosecutions.
Two former district police officers, including then–Police Chief Pete Arredondo, were indicted on child endangerment charges in 2023 related to the response.
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The records align with a Texas House committee’s assessment that the district’s small police force, led by Arredondo, was unprepared. The committee reported that Arredondo dropped his police radio upon entering the campus and did not establish command or communicate effectively with other agencies.
