Uvalde school district releases records for 2022 classroom shooting, after legal fight over access
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/08/2025 (236 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — School officials in Uvalde, Texas, on Monday released text messages, personnel files and student records of the shooter from the 2022 attack at Robb Elementary School, following a yearslong legal battle over public access to the material.
The records include emails between top school district officials and also text messages and emails to and from at least two school police officers who were on the scene. The release also contains the personnel file of former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo, who has been described as the on-scene commander of the law enforcement response.
The release included a handful of text exchanges between Arredondo and others at the district that were sent before the shooting. At 9:04 a.m., the chief told officer Adrian Gonzales to “go hang out at the park with the seniors until 11:30.” At 11:40 a.m. a text to Arredondo from a district secretary noted someone reported hearing shots outside Robb Elementary.
“They went ahead and locked themselves down,” the text to Arredondo read. At 1:07 p.m. a text to Arredondo asked if any students were injured or taken to the hospital and asked if the district can lift the “secure status” on the school. The shooter had been killed by law enforcement about 15 minutes earlier.
Media organizations, including The Associated Press, sued the district and county in 2022 for the release of their records related to the mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.
A Texas appeals court in July upheld a lower court’s ruling that the records must be released.
The records are not the public’s first glimpse inside one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings and a slow law enforcement response that has been widely condemned. Last year, city officials in Uvalde released police body cam videos and recordings of 911 calls.
Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman in a classroom filled with dead and wounded children and teachers. Multiple federal and state investigations into the response have laid bare cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers.
Two school district officers face criminal charges for their actions that day. The former schools police chief Arredondo and former officer Adrian Gonzales both face multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. Both men have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial later this year.
They are the only two responding officers to have been charged.