Walsh Gallegos said it mistakenly released just a sample of the records provided to it by Uvalde CISD—an error the school board said amounted to negligence.
UVALDE, Texas — A frustrated Uvalde CISD board voted Monday night to release thousands more emails and documents related to the Robb Elementary School shooting after the firm representing the district admitted to mistakenly releasing only a sample of records earlier this month.
Jesse Rizzo, the board’s secretary and uncle of shooting victim Jackie Cazares, said the mistake by the law firm Walsh Gallegos amounted to negligence.
“I honestly didn’t think we’d come back and rehash and relook, talk about this thing again,” Rizzo said, just over a month after Uvalde CISD trustees unanimously voted to release what it thought were all the pertinent records.
According to a Walsh Gallegos representative who addressed the board Monday night, the records released on Aug. 12 amounted to just the sample of documents the firm had shared with the Texas attorney general pending their release.
“When you are ordered to do the release, that would be the entirety of the documents, not just the sample,” the Walsh Gallegos representative said. “We believe we made an error that all we released was the sampling.”
As a result, about 8,600 more emails and 26,000 additional pages are expected to be released by next Wednesday, Sept. 3, although the first batches come be shared sooner as confidential information is being redacted.
Footage of hallway surveillance video still wouldn’t be released at the district’s discretion, the attorney said, because it was handed over to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which remains mired in its own ongoing legal battle over Robb records.
“We want to make sure we do not have any more errors,” said another Uvalde CISD board member. “We absolutely want to be transparent. I feel devastated.”
Rizzo gave the Walsh Gallegos representative a stern warning: “You, as Walsh Gallegos, failed me. And your law firm will be held accountable.”
Later, for the second time in about five weeks, the Uvalde CISD board, voted unanimously to release the additional records from the deadly school shooting.
CNN had reported last week that key emails had not yet been released relating to the May 2022 shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary School. Those included an apparent email from Robb’s then-principal, sent months before the tragedy, in which he notified district officials that classroom doors were not or could not be locked.
A judge had ordered the release of school records related to the shooting in July. They ultimately were shared with the public on Aug. 12, shedding additional light into the delayed law enforcement response to neutralize the gunman, who was in the school for 77 minutes.