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PBS FRONTLINE releases Uvalde shooting documentary based on recordings, documents from state investigation into police response

Reporters reviewed nearly 150 different officer accounts, as well as hours of body camera footage and 911 calls

By Joanna Putman
Police1

UVALDE, Texas — More than a year and a half after one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, PBS’s FRONTLINE, ProPublica and the Texas Tribune published a documentary unveiling previously unseen footage of the Robb Elementary School Shooting and its aftermath, the Texas Tribune reported.

The Tribune and ProPublica obtained videos and documentation from the state investigation into law enforcement response.

Reporters were able to review nearly 150 different officer accounts, as well as hours of body camera footage and 911 calls, according to the report.

The documentary, “Inside the Uvalde Response,” investigates criticisms the response received in the weeks and months to follow, including the length of time (about an hour) police took to neutralize the threat and the apparent lack of effective chains of command and communication.

According to accounts in the documentary, police initially struggled to locate the shooter because they were listening for children screams or the shooter’s attempts to quiet them. Meanwhile, the children followed their active shooter training by remaining silent.

“I just honestly thought that they were in the cafeteria because it seemed like all the lights were off and it seemed like it was really quiet. I didn’t hear any screaming, any yelling. I literally didn’t hear anything at all,” Uvalde police Staff Sgt. Eduardo Canales recalled to an investigator. “You would think kids would be yelling and screaming.”

The documentary, which was released on Dec. 4, has more than 69,000 views on YouTube as of Dec. 6.