- A top Texas cop slammed Tuesday's leak of footage of the May 24 massacre in Uvalde.
- Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw said he was "deeply disappointed" families didn't see it first.
- The footage from Robb Elementary was scheduled to be released to the community in a few days.
A top Texas law enforcement official slammed the leaking of security footage on Tuesday that showed police waiting to stop a gunman at a Uvalde elementary school in late May.
"I am deeply disappointed this video was released before all of the families who were impacted that day and the community of Uvalde had the opportunity to view it as part of Chairman Dustin Burrows' plan," Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said in a statement after the video was released.
Before the leak, Texas state politician Dustin Burrows had said there were plans to release the footage to the community before the general public. The video, however, was obtained and published by the Austin-American Statesman and KVUE.
The four-minute-long harrowing clip includes footage from inside and outside Robb Elementary School on May 24, when a gunman fatally shot 19 children and two adults. At one point in the video, a clip shows heavily armed police officers waiting in a hallway while the massacre unfolded.
Uvalde's city council and some parents slammed the media for publishing the footage ahead of the scheduled release date in a few days. Some community members pushed back, saying the city should be attacking the police instead of the media.
In response to the leak, Burrows tweeted he's "glad that a small portion is now available for the public" but added: "I do believe watching the entire segment of law enforcement's response, or lack thereof, is also important."
Law enforcement in Uvalde has faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the massacre and has been accused of changing the narrative and timeline of how the shooting unfolded multiple times, leaving many across the community and country furious.
McCraw said the "video provides horrifying evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary on May 24 was an abject failure."
"In law enforcement, when one officer fails, we all fail," he said.