Two Texas news outlets have published disturbing surveillance video from inside Robb Elementary School during the May 24 mass shooting, as Uvalde officials and families debate the sensitive footage's release.
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE and the Austin American-Statesman both released an edited portion of the never-before-seen footage on Tuesday, ahead of the planned release of the video by state lawmakers.
"Both media outlets have elected to release that footage Tuesday to provide transparency to the community, showing what happened as officials waited to enter that classroom," KVUE stated in its article on the footage, which shows the gunman walking into the school building and officers responding three minutes later
The edited surveillance footage shows dozens of law enforcement officers, including some with protective shields, waiting in the hallway. Officers didn't breach the classroom for more than 70 minutes, even as four additional shots were fired from the classrooms 45 minutes after police arrived on the scene, the footage released by the news organizations shows.
The release comes hours after a key state lawmaker in Texas vowed Tuesday to release surveillance video from inside the school, a move he says is intended to provide transparency to the families of the 21 victims despite guidance from the local district attorney that the footage remain under wraps.
Rep. Dustin Burrows, the chairman of a special Texas House panel investigating the school shooting, tweeted early Tuesday that his committee planned to meet with members of the Uvalde community this coming Sunday to "provide them an opportunity to see the hallway video and discuss our preliminary report."
"Very soon thereafter, we will release both to the public," Burrows added.
MORE: Abbott, other Texas leaders call for release of Uvalde video, capping day of confusion for families
In the wake of the reporting from KVUE and the Austin American-Statesman on Tuesday, Burrows expressed his disappointment at the release of the footage.
"The committee is aware a portion of the hallway video has been made public. While I am glad that a small portion is now available for the public, I do believe watching the entire segment of law enforcement's response, or lack thereof, is also important," he wrote on Twitter. "I am also disappointed the victim's families and the Uvalde community's requests to watch the video first, and not have certain images and audio of the violence, were not achieved."
Burrows' pledge to release the video and its partial release by the news organizations cap a dizzying weekend spat among state officials, law enforcement agencies and Uvalde's mayor about how to handle sensitive investigative materials, including hallway surveillance footage purportedly showing the police response to the shooting.