UVALDE, Texas — There is mixed reaction about the release of the video from inside Robb Elementary.
KENS 5 spoke with Monica Gallegos who is the mother of one of the 19 children killed. Her daughter is Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez. Gallegos said she has not seen the video and doesn’t want to view it. However, she does hope this will finally bring transparency.
“We need accountability,” she said. They need to come forward, just take accountability for what they did. And quit pointing fingers.”
Gallegos also lost another family member in the mass shooting: Jacklyn Jackie Cazares. For Gallegos it is about her daughter who will never come back.
“I just want them to remember her the way she was,” the mother said. “How happy she was. How friendly she was. She was an amazing kid.”
Tuesday’s council meeting was full of families and residents of Uvalde. Jesse Rizo said he is a family member of Cazares.
“I am happy it is released,” he said. But I wish they would have waited until the family members got to see it beforehand.”
Rizo spoke at the council meeting demanding for accountability and answers. He answered the following on why he believes it is good the video is out.
“Transparency,” he said. “Everyone seems to be covering up. Everyone seems to not be giving direct answers, and something like that you can’t dispute what is on video. And at that point you can go after the people that dropped the ball.”
Gallegos said what parent would want to hear and see what happened inside the school. Meanwhile, Rep. Dustin Burrows who is the chair of the House committee investigating law enforcement’s response said the following on Twitter about the video release.
“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.” 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.”
The committee is set to meet again on Sunday in Uvalde.