一段泄露的视频显示执法部门对一起大规模枪击案在德克萨斯州乌瓦尔迪的罗布小学,引起了社区的愤怒,它也捕捉到了一名警察的痛苦时刻,他的妻子在袭击中丧生。
本周在电视和网络上播出的安全录像中航附属公司KVUE在奥斯汀和奥斯汀美国政治家官员们说,乌瓦尔德联合独立学区警察部队的一名成员鲁本·鲁伊斯在他的妻子,教师伊娃·米雷莱斯联系他说她被枪击并且生命垂危后检查他的手机。
得克萨斯州众议员乔·穆迪(Joe Moody)在视频中公开指认鲁伊斯是检查手机的警官,此前该警官被一些社交媒体用户批评为5月24日执法回应的一个例子,得克萨斯州公共安全部主任史蒂文·麦克劳(Steven McCraw)称之为一个“彻底的失败。”
喜怒无常的开始使用Twitter周三告知公众,Ruiz是Mireles的丈夫,mire les是该校两名遇难教师和19名儿童之一。
穆迪是德克萨斯州立法机构联合委员会的一员,该委员会花了数周时间调查大规模枪击事件,并将于周日会见遇难者的亲属,并发布调查结果报告。
《乌瓦尔迪:365》是美国广播公司的一个连续新闻系列,从乌瓦尔迪报道,重点关注德克萨斯州社区以及它如何在悲剧的阴影下前进。
“在报告发布之前,我本不打算公开发言,但看到这个失去一切的人受到诽谤,好像他漠不关心或恶意中伤,我什么也说不出来。背景很重要,”穆迪在推特上写道。
Ruiz是第一个冲进学校的四名警察之一,三分钟前,嫌疑人挥舞着AR-15式步枪通过未锁的门进入学校。
6月21日,在德克萨斯州参议院委员会作证时,McCraw说Ruiz试图拯救他的妻子,但被禁止这样做。
“我们有一名警官,Ruiz警官,他的妻子打电话来说她被枪击了,她快要死了,”McCraw告诉州参议院委员会。“发生在他身上的事情是他试图在走廊上向前移动。他被拘留,他们拿走了他的枪,并护送他离开现场。”
米雷莱斯教室里的一个孩子在骚乱中拨打了911,并向调度员恳求道:“请帮助我的老师,她中弹了,但还活着。”
警察最终闯入教室,在枪手进入学校77分钟后将其击毙,但为时已晚,无法挽救米雷莱斯和其他20名受害者,官员说。
亲戚们告诉ABC新闻,米雷莱斯是小学四年级的老师。她的家人说,她在该学区当了大约17年的老师。
鲁伊斯的堂妹安珀·伊巴拉称米莱莱斯为“英雄”和“了不起的妈妈”。
“她非常有冒险精神、勇敢和活泼,可以点亮一个房间,”Ybarra告诉ABC新闻。“我们会想念她的。”
Video of Uvalde shooting scene captured cop checking phone after dying wife called him: Official
While a leaked video showing the slow law enforcement response to amass shootingat Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has caused anger in the community, it also captured a moment of agony for a police officer whose wife was killed in the attack.
The security footage that aired this week on television and online byABC affiliate KVUEin Austin and theAustin American-Statesmanrecorded Officer Ruben Ruiz, a member of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police force, checking his cellphone after his wife, teacher Eva Mireles, contacted him to say she had been shot and was dying, officials said.
Texas state Rep. Joe Moody publicly identified Ruiz as the officer checking his phone in the video after the officer was criticized by some social media users as an example of the May 24 law enforcement response that Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has described as an"abject failure."
Moodytook to Twitteron Wednesday to inform the public that Ruiz was the husband of Mireles, one of two teachers killed along with 19 children at the school.
Moody is part of a joint committee of the Texas Legislature that has spent weeks investigating the mass shooting and is set to meet on Sunday with the loved ones of those killed and release a report of its findings.
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
"I'd not planned to speak publicly until the report was released, but I couldn't say nothing seeing this man, who has lost everything, maligned as if he was indifferent or actively malicious. Context matters," Moody tweeted.
Ruiz was among four officers who first charged into the school three minutes after the suspect wielding an AR-15-style rifle entered the school unabated through an unlocked door.
While testifying before a Texas state Senate committee on June 21, McCraw said that Ruiz tried to save his wife, but was barred from doing so.
"We've got an officer, Officer Ruiz, whose wife called in and said she'd been shot and she was dying," McCraw told the state Senate committee. "What happened to him was he tried to move forward in the hallway. He was detained, and they took his gun away from him and escorted him off the scene."
One of the children in Mireles classroom called 911 during the rampage and pleaded with a dispatcher, "Send help for my teacher, she is shot but still alive."
Police eventually breached the classroom and killed the gunman 77 minutes after he entered the school, but it was too late to saveMireles and the 20 other victims, officials said.
Mireles was a fourth-grade teacher at the elementary school, relatives told ABC News. She had been a teacher in the school district for approximately 17 years, the family said.
Amber Ybarra, a cousin of Ruiz, called Mireles a "hero" and an "amazing mom."
"She was just very adventurous and courageous and vivacious and could light up a room," Ybarra told ABC News. "She's going to be missed."