Newly released maintenance records show Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, had serious door malfunctions for years before the tragic 2022 shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the academy, was the shooter. In addition to the casualties, he injured 17 others. He was killed by police 74 minutes after entering the school.
In one 2022 work order filed just weeks before the attack, staff flagged that the “west door [was] not closing right.” That’s the same entrance the gunman used to walk into the building without resistance. The repair was marked complete, but the door remained faulty.
Teacher Arnie Reyes, whose classroom was breached during the shooting, said, “I was doing my job of telling them, ‘Hey, this is not working. This is not safe.’”
According to the documents, issues date back to 2020, including reports like “door won’t shut unless slammed” and “key won’t work.” Some classrooms couldn’t be locked at all. Exterior doors were often left unsecured, a detail confirmed by teacher Amy Franco, who said, “All three doors on that campus are always open, always unlocked.”
The school district, under court order, recently released over 25,000 pages of internal documents—but many key records, including communications with law enforcement and internal warnings, are still missing.
Survivors and victims’ families say the incomplete transparency has stalled their healing.
“As survivors, we shouldn’t have to be chasing down our own truth,” said Franco.
An emergency school board meeting is now scheduled to address legal missteps and ongoing public outcry over the district’s lack of accountability. The door issues were known. The danger was real. And the cost was irreversible.
