Uvalde Families Get a Glimpse of the Truth

This week marks one year since 19 students and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In that time, victims’ families say they have not received sufficient answers from authorities as to why they waited 77 minutes before breaching the classroom. In today’s episode, we hear why CNN agreed to show some parents unreleased body camera footage and examine how surviving students are coping.

Guest: Shimon Prokupecz, CNN Senior Crime & Justice Correspondent

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy ( )

38 comments

  1. Why wouldn’t they want to know the truth…however painful it may be. They deserved to watch and see this on their own free will. The cops were never going to share everything with the parents.

    1. That is true, body camera footage is owned by the agency it originates from. They are not under any legal obligation to release the footage to the general public.

      Is that stance suspicious?
      Yes.

    2. The truth is that the common sense gun law that we put in place to create gun free zones, are proving to be some of the most dangerous places in the country.

    1. With over 207 mass shootings in under 140 days. That’s just this year 2023 alone we are averaging just under 1.5 per day.
      If this pace continues the full year we will have over 500 mass shootings and over 2,400 dead and or injured persons.

      You don’t forget them you are adding more and more daily!

  2. More cops at Uvalde than the Alamo defenders, the cops were cowards and all of them should be fired, they’re not fit to be mall cops , an absolute dereliction of duty

    1. The Uvalde cops are not “cowards,” because “cowardice” is not a real condition. It’s a label we apply to situations that we think would have turned out better with more risk-taking. Situations vary and so does risk tolerance.

      What the cops were was *undutiful.* They didn’t know their duty and that IS a permanent condition, or at least an enduring one which yields only to discipline.

      Cops throughout America are undisciplined; that’s why we see so many instances of them behaving badly.

      And in a sense, who can blame them? It’s not that they don’t go to police school, or have a “book” to go by, or have experienced leadership, but political officials, erratic judges, system-wise lawyers, police unions, all muddy the waters of what is Right.

      It’s no wonder that at every scene of tragedy most of the police are just standing around not knowing what to do.

      Individually, any of those cops might have performed bravely (or they might not, but we can’t know). In a mob, though, they behaved like anyone else in a mob, waiting for Somebody Else to take charge.

      Maybe you think police should be better than that, better than a random gaggle of passersby. So do I, but we can’t expect that of them if we don’t train them and hold them accountable for their training.

      Most police get into that line of work because they enjoy confrontation and being dominating. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be much good at it, but it’s not enough.

    2. @Lemon Quite the contrary. Though Travis’ orders were to abandon the defense, it turned out to be a successful delaying action that made possible the Texan victory at San Jacinto.

    3. @George Dunn Cowardice: noun. lack of courage or firmness of purpose

      Get a better dictionary. Yours is missing words. Maybe you’ve just never been in a position that involved enough risk to understand what bravery and cowardice are. Having been in combat more than a few times, I’ve seen both, and they are very real.
      And as for “unditiful” they absolutely DID know their duty. They swore an oath when they first put on the badge. They all graduated an academy. They CHOSE not to do their duty. Go ahead and guess why…. (hint, because they were cowards)

  3. It is important for people that have the ability to process information rationally, to see the power that people weld, that lack this ability.

  4. *The sad, tragic truth is that the police commanders waited for an hour and 9 minutes allowing the gunman plenty of time to kill those little kids! THEY SHOULD HAVE STOMRED THAT CLASSROOM IMMEDIATELY!*

    1. Watching the video of all the police in that school hallway doing nothing, dicking around their cell phones, standing around looking like scared weasels for what seemed like an eternity — all the while knowing that the gunman was killing young children with an AR-15 assault rifle is horrifying!! This Uvalde TX mass shooting police response is probably the biggest cowardly moment that I can remember in the USA in the 50 years of my life!! All involved should be fired & maybe even prosecuted or at least found liable in civil court. These guys took 1 hour & 9 minutes & nobody called ambulances??? Unbelievable!

  5. Mistakes were made, big time but the objective should be Kids, Justice and the Future. Only helping the kids will allow them to progress and like all human species we can’t handle 2 things, “Truth and Chaos” Justice SHOULD in theory fix issues and who’s fault but blame and hate in itself only hurts the kids and brings up what happened, Note:I can only look from the outside and have no legal or professional opinion but merely my balanced opinion

    1. Maybe you didn’t actually listen to the story – the parents were asking to see the video. The journalist asked again and again and again and explained how bad it would be and STILL they wanted to see the video. So YES, this IS “just what the families needed right now”, in their own words.
      Maybe watch a video before commenting on it so you don’t seem so foolish.

  6. PRIMITIVE RETALIATION FORCES:

    When I’m dead, there are no primitive retaliation forces.
    Forces that can craft a bow and poison their arrows, killing in silence, when life on the planet is exterminated.

    This is one of the most important retaliatory forces, any nuclear power, can possess.

  7. There is no defense for law enforcement that day. If you accept employment as a police officer, you ARE accepting risk and committing to protect the people of your jurisdiction – and really all people.
    It is no different from enlisting or accepting a commission in the armed forces. You are accepting combat risk and committing to defend our nation.
    No matter who was in that building, refusing to enter was breaking the societal contract under which you swore an oath. That alone means you ARE NOT cops, and yes, you should all turn in your badges.
    The fact that it was small children at risk means you are all cowards and do not deserve to continue walking this earth. You traded in the life of a child so that you did not have to be in danger yourself. I hope you feel the weight of that guilt every single day you continue to draw breath.

    I’m a 30 year veteran with multiple combat tours. For me, this is not hypothetical. I know what I’m talking about. I’ve saved lives – and had my own life saved – because my brothers and sisters and I took our oath seriously and were willing to do our job when it mattered. Today, I thank GOD almighty that none of the people who my life depended on were as cowardly as those officers.

    Do not defend them. They were in uniform to suck up a paycheck and nothing more, and those little babies paid the price, and their families will continue to pay the price for the rest of their lives.

    I hope the courts choose to suspend qualified immunity for them, because qualified immunity is supposed to be for officers taking action in the line of duty, not officer refusing to do their duty.

  8. Awful for those little innocent children. Just awful. I wondered during the Nashville school shooting if the poor Uvalde parents thought if only… we had gotten that response, how many of our children could have been saved!😢😢❤❤🙏🏼

  9. I hope these kids and their families get all the care they need. What happened in Uvalde should put ever police official to shame. And every Republican still voting against strict gun ownership laws too.

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