• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Subscribe
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Leadership
    • Why you should lead from 30,000 feet
      Public perception and trust
      When performance reviews are a waste of time
      Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook
      Tattoos can be self-inflicted handicaps
  • Topics
    • Leadership
      • Why you should lead from 30,000 feet
        Public perception and trust
        When performance reviews are a waste of time
        Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook
        Tattoos can be self-inflicted handicaps
    • Editor’s Picks
      • Liability challenges in contemporary policing
        When performance reviews are a waste of time
        Proactive wellness visits
        Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook
        Law enforcement’s missing weapon
    • On the Job
      • Right place, right time — again
        Some good news on crime
        Mom-to-be named Cop of the Year
        Fatherly instincts save boy from icy water
        More than a call for service
    • Labor
      • Labor release under fire
        Who’s watching the watchmen?
        Crime and punishment (or lack thereof) in Seattle
        Labor leadership out in the field
        When you are falsely accused
    • Tech
      • A modern field guide to understanding research in policing
        Gear that moves with you
        A new breed of cop car
        The future of patrol is here
        New York governor highlights $24 million investment to modernize law...
    • Training
      • Navigating danger
        Critical thinking in police training
        Threshold neuroscience
        Integrated virtual reality training
        Hit the pause button
    • Policy
      • Try racing without wheels
        Law enforcement accreditation: Why it matters
        Liability challenges in contemporary policing
        The war on drugs is evolving
        Drug policy and enforcement
    • Health/Wellness
      • Nervous system regulation
        The nature of the job
        Promoting organizational wellness
        Telling cops to get more sleep isn’t working
        Proactive wellness visits
    • Community
      • Shop with a Cop
        Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
        Contradictory crossroads
        Back-to-school season brings out police support nationwide
        A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
    • Offbeat
      • An unexpected burglar
        Police humor only a cop would understand
        Not eggzactly a perfect heist
        Pizza … with a side of alligator?
        Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
    • We Remember
      • Forty heroes: United Airlines Flight 93
        The Pentagon
        A nation propelled to war, lives changed forever
        A Christmas loss
        York County ambush leaves three officers dead, others critically...
    • HOT Mail
      • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • On the Job
    • Right place, right time — again
      Some good news on crime
      Mom-to-be named Cop of the Year
      Fatherly instincts save boy from icy water
      More than a call for service
  • Labor
    • Labor release under fire
      Who’s watching the watchmen?
      Crime and punishment (or lack thereof) in Seattle
      Labor leadership out in the field
      When you are falsely accused
  • Tech
    • A modern field guide to understanding research in policing
      Gear that moves with you
      A new breed of cop car
      The future of patrol is here
      New York governor highlights $24 million investment to modernize law...
  • Training
    • Navigating danger
      Critical thinking in police training
      Threshold neuroscience
      Integrated virtual reality training
      Hit the pause button
  • Policy
    • Try racing without wheels
      Law enforcement accreditation: Why it matters
      Liability challenges in contemporary policing
      The war on drugs is evolving
      Drug policy and enforcement
  • Health/Wellness
    • Nervous system regulation
      The nature of the job
      Promoting organizational wellness
      Telling cops to get more sleep isn’t working
      Proactive wellness visits
  • Community
    • Shop with a Cop
      Community engagement: What is it moving forward?
      Contradictory crossroads
      Back-to-school season brings out police support nationwide
      A bold idea for reducing homelessness in America
  • Offbeat
    • An unexpected burglar
      Police humor only a cop would understand
      Not eggzactly a perfect heist
      Pizza … with a side of alligator?
      Wisconsin man charged with impersonating Border Patrol agent twice in...
  • We Remember
    • Forty heroes: United Airlines Flight 93
      The Pentagon
      A nation propelled to war, lives changed forever
      A Christmas loss
      York County ambush leaves three officers dead, others critically...
  • HOT Mail
    • The War on Cops Continues Unabated
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
Search

Community

“A total mess”: Police experts and community react to surveillance video of Uvalde school massacre

APB Team Published July 20, 2022 @ 12:00 pm PDT

Don Holloway via Wikimedia Commons

Law enforcement experts and the community have reacted with shock and outrage following leaked surveillance footage of the Uvalde school massacre that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.

The video was leaked by the Austin American-Statesman days before officials planned to allow victims’ families to view the footage and before releasing the video to the public.

The grieving families were outraged by the leak.

“It’s just never-ending pain, it’s just one thing after another,” said Kimberly Rubio, mother of her slain 10-year-old daughter, Lexi.

Angel Garza, whose daughter Amerie Jo was killed in the attack, was also angered by the video.

“We get blindsided by a leak. Who do you think you are to release footage like that of our children who can’t even speak for themselves, but you want to go ahead and air their final moments to the entire world? What makes you think that’s OK?”

The paper’s executive editor, Manny Garcia, justified the decision to publish the video in an editorial.

“We have to bear witness to history, and transparency and unrelenting reporting is a way to bring change.”

The edited 77-minute video began with the moment the gunman entered the main entrance of Robb Elementary School armed with a long rifle.

Another camera angle showed the gunman walking down the hallway and firing numerous rounds through the doors and into classrooms. He then entered a classroom and continued firing shots.

The same camera angle witnessed the arrival of numerous police officers and later SWAT team officers.

The edited video released by the paper was just over four minutes long.

Law enforcement experts were once again astounded by Uvalde police officers’ hesitation in confronting the shooter.

After approaching the door and hearing gun shots, several police officers can be seen retreating further away from the classrooms where the gunman was.

The rest of the video shows more officers arriving and lingering in the hallway for over an hour.

“This should have been over in 3 to 4 minutes,” CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero said of the attack.

“We don’t know what was going on in the minds of those officers who were in the hallway and decided not to act when there were children under gunfire — but from my perspective, every single one depicted in that video should turn in their badge,” Cordero added.

Texas Department of Public Safety director Colonel Steven McCraw and Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin were also angry that the families’ wishes to see the footage before it was aired publicly were not granted.

McCraw also affirmed that the video was evidence that law enforcement did not do their duty that day.

“I am deeply disappointed this video was released before all of the families who were impacted that day and the community of Uvalde had the opportunity to view it as part of Chairman Dustin Burrows’ plan. Those most affected should have been among the first to see it,” McCraw said in a written statement.

The DPS head said the video was further proof of the department’s failure that day.

“This video provides horrifying evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary on May 24 was an abject failure.”

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe called the police response a “total mess” filled with countless mistakes.

“The Texas state active shooter response for school-based officers’ training, that every one of these officers has to have had by this point in time, makes it clear that you take everybody that you have when you arrive on that scene and you go downrange to address the threat. That is not what they did,” McCabe said.

“And then the mistakes compound from there, you see one after another, as we watch the video.”

Another law enforcement veteran and expert, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, decried the lack of heroism that day.

“I know what heroism looks like, and that ain’t it,” Ramsey said.

“You have to do what you have to do, period. That’s the job,” he added. “This is not pro bono work, you get paid to do this, and you volunteered to do it. You didn’t get drafted to become a cop. It’s part of what you do.”

Ramsey said that after taking cover from initial fire, the officers should have regrouped and confronted the gunman.

Categories: Community Tags: outrage, Law Enforcement, training, FBI, heroism, surveillance footage, Uvalde school massacre, Robb Elementary, grieving parents, Don McLaughlin

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Nervous system regulation
  • Navigating danger
  • The nature of the job
  • Forty heroes: United Airlines Flight 93
  • Why you should lead from 30,000 feet
  • Promoting organizational wellness
  • Critical thinking in police training
  • Public perception and trust
  • Labor release under fire
  • Reminder: Apply now for the 2026 Destination Zero Awards

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

Liability challenges in contemporary policing

Liability challenges in contemporary policing

February 27, 2026

When performance reviews are a waste of time

When performance reviews are a waste of time

February 26, 2026

Proactive wellness visits

Proactive wellness visits

February 25, 2026

Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook

Taking a page from Toyota’s playbook

February 23, 2026

Policies | Consent Preferences | Copyright © 2026 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.