TEXAS, USA — FOX West Texas and our parent company, TEGNA, are part of a media coalition to gather all the facts related to the May 24, 2022, Robb Elementary School tragedy in Uvalde.
The coalition's efforts are to help us all understand what happened and to show us what we can learn, so we can prevent it from happening again.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the mass shooting. Since then, information from officials has shown the gunman was inside the school for more than an hour before law enforcement entered the classroom where he was barricaded.
On Tuesday, the media coalition sent a letter to Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin to offer support to Uvalde residents in their search for answers.
"We write to make you aware of provisions in the law that allow yourself and other City of Uvalde officials to release additional information to public," the letter reads. "The Texas Public Information Act does not require City officials to await the conclusion or any state or federal investigation in order to make information public."
FOX West Texas is committed to finding the truth and we will be open and transparent with our viewers throughout our process, sharing what we learn along the way.
The media coalition includes ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, The Associated Press, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, as well as a number of Texas newspapers including the Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. Other news organizations are ProPublica, Univision and The Texas Tribune.
At least 11 TEGNA media properties are a part of the coalition, including KVUE-TV, KHOU-TV in Houston, WFAA-TV in Dallas and KENS-TV in San Antonio.
Here is the full letter to McLaughlin: