BODY CAM FOOTAGE: Uvalde cops complained they were afraid to get shot during massacre

Newly leaked footage of Uvalde police officers shows a group of armed men covered in body armor expressing fear of getting "clapped out," shot, or putting themselves in any danger whatsoever during the massacre at Robb Elementary School on May 24 during a massacre that saw 19 children and two teachers killed.

Local NBC News obtained the footage which featured the conversation between two unidentified Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers unable to figure out what to do or where to go at the school. One said, "Want to jump the f*cking gate or what?" to which the other replied "What is the safest way to do this? I’m not trying to get clapped out."

"Me neither," the first officer agreed, to which the second added, "I also don’t like standing right by the windows where we can get shot, bro."

The extent of the footage obtained by the local news outlet also revealed general confusion, men unsure of who was in the Special Response Team, and consistent remarks such as an officer warning another, "You’re going to put yourself in danger."

The Uvalde school district in Texas suspended its entire police force on October 7 in the wake of their failure to adequately respond to the slaughter at the school.

Pete Arredondo, the school district's former police chief, was fired in August. 

On May 24, gunman Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School at 11:33 am and police were on the scene in minutes. 

As Ramos went to rooms 111 and 112, police did not make an attempt to enter or breach the doors, which were unlocked. Ramos hid in the classrooms and the massacre continued while surveillance video shows officers standing idly by as children screamed only feet away.

Arredondo arrived on scene without a radio but made a call to dispatch at 11:40 am saying "We're inside the building, he's in one room," and "I need a lot of firepower, so I need this building surrounded. Surrounded with as many AR-15s as possible."

Arredondo proceeded to check for keys that would access the unlocked room and tried a set on an entirely different classroom door safely away from the shooter.

At 12:16 pm, a child was on an emergency line reporting that several kids were still alive and begged for police to enter. In response, Chief Arredondo reportedly said,  "Tell them to f*cking wait"

Outside parents were detained and handcuffed as they wanted to rush in and save their dying children. 

At 12:23 pm Arredondo was told that they'd already lost two kids, but responded "we have to put those aside right now" because he was afraid that bullets could break through the thin walls. He continued to wait for more gear and men.

The report by the Texas House found that nearly 400 local, state, and federal officers waited outside the Uvalde school as Ramos targeted the children. County Commissioner John Yeackle said that, despite the massive law enforcement presence, "no one seemed to know who was in charge." 

Ramos was eventually terminated at 12:50, almost an hour and a half later, at the hands of a Border Patrol tactical team.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw summarized the failures of the Uvalde police, especially Chief Arredondo, by saying simply that the gunman could have been neutralized in "three minutes." The Texas House report also confirmed that Arredondo acted too slowly.

Arredondo was in charge of the Uvalde local school district police while McGraw was in charge of the DPS police, who were also revealed to be at fault.

According to the New York Post, McGraw also said he would resign if his team was found to have any culpability in the botched response, which they were. But McGraw has said, "I can tell you this right now: DPS as an institution, right now, did not fail the community — plain and simple."

McGraw has refused to resign despite calls for him to do so from the parents of the dead children.