UVALDE, Texas – The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District filed an amicus brief this week supporting the release of hallway footage from the 2024 shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The brief sides with news agencies, including KSAT, in the ongoing lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety on the release of records related to the massacre.
In the document, UCISD states DPS has not handed over surveillance video that the district provided following the shooting.
“DPS has refused to release that video footage to the public and recently refused to provide a copy of the footage to Uvalde CISD,” the document states. “Uvalde CISD files this amicus brief because the school district believes the video footage should be released to the public.”
The district argues that DPS has failed to present any valid legal justification for continuing to withhold the surveillance videos under the Texas Public Information Act.
DPS has cited the law-enforcement exception but did not specifically address the school district’s footage in its appeal brief.
“There is no reason to believe any remaining video footage that is not already publicly available will interfere with or disclose the direction of any law enforcement agency investigations,” the document states.
The district argues there is no “legitimate reason for DPS to continue withholding the school district’s surveillance videos.”
In July, a state appeals court judge sided with KSAT and other media organizations in a separate 2022 lawsuit against the district and county seeking the release of their records related to the massacre.
While UCISD has released thousands of pages of documents in batches in August, not all records have been turned over to media outlets — including the hallway video.
In August, Walsh Gallegos — the firm that represented the district during the records lawsuit — admitted they “made an error” by not releasing all the records initially.
The UCISD board later voted unanimously to hire a new law firm, Thompson & Horton, to represent the district.
Nineteen children and two teachers died in the May 24, 2022, shooting. Family members of the victims were among those who pushed for the records to be released.
Uvalde County released its records, including body-worn camera footage, in August.
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