UVALDE, Texas — The Texas House special committee investigating the Robb Elementary School shooting could soon release hallway surveillance videos from the May 24 mass shooting.
According to a report by ABC News, the 77-minute hallway videos from the day when 19 children and two teachers were killed inside a classroom could be released as early as Monday when the committee is set to hold a hearing.
Last month, KVUE obtained a surveillance photo showing officers standing in the hallway of the elementary with rifles and at least one ballistic shield. The victims' loved ones, law enforcement experts and many across the country have wondered why the officers didn't breach the classroom sooner and waited over an hour to enter.
KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski along with KVUE's news partners at the Austin American-Statesman had a chance to review the footage ahead of the hearing. According to the report, the video shows the 18-year-old gunman dressed in all black walking into the school through a rear entrance while carrying an AR-15. He stops in front of a classroom before continuing down the hallway until reaching Room 111.
Video shows him turning to his left and shooting as he walks toward the room, according to the report. A boy in the bathroom can be seen peeking around the corner before police rescue him later.
Three minutes after the initial shooting, officers from the Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde school district moved in from two ends of the hall, meeting at Rooms 111 and 112 where the gunman was. They were pushed back by the gunman returning fire, per the report.
Then, for the next hour, the video shows officers in the hallway armed with shields and high-powered weapons but not entering the classrooms until 12:52 p.m. to take down the shooter.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin on Friday issued a statement expressing support for the release of the video after Rep. Dustin Burrows, chairman of the special committee, sent a letter asking to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) asking that the video be made public.
"The City of Uvalde overwhelmingly supports the release of all videos including State Representative Dustin Burrows' request to release to the public, the entire 77-minute hallway video from the May 24 Robb School shooting, up to the moment of the breach," McLaughlin's statement read. "We agree with Burrows that the video is likely to bring clarity to the public, to the families of victims and survivors."
Burrows tweeted on Friday that he had requested DPS to release the videos on Thursday. DPS responded by saying the release would provide clarity and transparency to the public without interfering with the investigation, but that Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell-Busbee instructed the agency not to release it.
"She has objected to releasing the video and has instructed us not to do so. As the individual with authority to consider whether any criminal prosecution should result from the events in Uvalde, we are guided by her professional judgment regarding the potential impact of releasing the video," the DPS statement read in part.
RELATED: Uvalde mayor refutes ALERRT report, says no officer could have shot gunman before he entered school
McLaughlin's support for the release of the video comes after he refuted parts of a report from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University that indicated law enforcement responding to the shooting had three missed changes to stop or slow the gunman before the mass shooting.
In his response, the Uvalde mayor claimed no Uvalde Police Department officers actually saw the gunman before he entered the school. ALERRT Director Pete Blair responded to the statement saying in part that the report "clearly identifies the sources of information for each item on the timeline."
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: