TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (Nexstar) — After a state judge ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to release its videos and records related to the May 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, the department is appealing the final judgment, further delaying the release of information.
Last week, a Travis County judge ordered the department to release its records requested by a group of media organizations within 20 days of the final judgment. The appeal means DPS does not have to release the records while the legal matters continue to pend in the courts.
More than a dozen media organizations filed a lawsuit in August 2022 after the department denied public information requests seeking 911 records, call logs, body-worn camera video, and other information related to response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers were massacred by a gunman.
The requests were filed under the Texas Public Information Act, which gives citizens the right to access government records. However, the government can withhold the release of records under certain circumstances. In the case of Uvalde-related records, DPS consistently cited “ongoing investigation” as reason for denying requests.
KXAN/Nexstar is not a part of the lawsuit, but did submit dozens of public information requests after the fatal shooting, in which it took nearly 400 law enforcement officers more than an hour to breach the classroom and take down the gunman.
Since the May 24, 2022 shooting, families of victims and members of the public have fought for transparency, asking the state to share information about the “failed” police response. After the shooting, an interim Texas House Committee was charged with investigating the tragedy at Robb Elementary, and found “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making” in the response by law enforcement. DPS had 91 officers on site that day, according to the report.
The media organizations suing include the following:
The Texas Tribune
ABC News
CBS News
CNN
Dow Jones & Co.
Gannett
Graham Media Group, Houston
Graham Media Group, San Antonio
NBC News
The New York Times Company
Pro Publica, Inc.
Scripps Media
TEGNA
The Washington Post
Nexstar reached out to DPS for comment about its appeal, which was filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton on behalf of the department; we will update this story if we hear back.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
[#item_full_content]