Shooter's uncle pleaded with police during Uvalde tragedy

UVALDE — The uncle of the Robb Elementary School shooter made multiple 911 calls during the shooting, pleading with police to let him speak to his nephew in hopes of stopping him, newly released documents reveal.

Armando Ramos, the shooter's uncle, believed he could persuade his nephew to surrender.

"Maybe he could listen to me because he does listen to me, everything I tell him, he does listen to me," Ramos said. "Maybe he could stand down or do something, turn himself in."

Twenty-one people died during the Uvalde shooting , including 19 students and two teachers.

In addition, the documents uncovered more about the shooter's past.

A 2018 police report detailed concerns raised by a student who reported the shooter's obsession with the Columbine school shooting. It also noted his desire to carry out a similar attack because he was teased and bullied.

In addition to hours of video and audio files, the release included dozens of documents, including written narratives from Uvalde PD officers who responded to the shooting. Some of the reports span several pages, others only a few sentences.

A compilation of 1,300 pages of emails sent to then-Mayor Don McLaughlin was also reviewed. The emails range from notes of support from fellow mayors to questions from media outlets and criticism directed at the Uvalde Police Department.

It has been widely denounced as a catastrophic failure that the law enforcement response was delayed , taking over 70 minutes before nearly 400 officers confronted the gunman in a classroom full of injured and dead students and teachers. The Uvalde massacre was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.

Several federal and state investigations into the slow response of law enforcement exposed a series of issues in leadership, technology, communication, training, and whether or not officers put their own lives before the lives of teachers and students. The victims' families have long demanded an explanation for the slow police response.

Two of the responding officers are facing criminal charges : Former Uvalde school Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school officer Adrian Gonzales both pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of child abandonment and endangerment. A Texas state trooper in Uvalde who had been suspended was reinstated to his job earlier this month.