A police officer seen on surveillance video checking his phone during the Uvalde massacre has been identified as the husband of a teacher who was killed.
According to Texas Rep. Joe Moody, the man was married to Eva Mireles, one of the teachers killed in the massacre at Robb Elementary.
Moody said Mireles had contacted her husband to tell him she had been shot and was dying.
Moody said he wanted to reveal who the officer is because of the criticism he is facing following the release of the video.
"To those who haven’t bothered to read even the news that’s been reported in your rush to judgment, he attempted to engage but was removed from the building and disarmed," Moody stated on Twitter. "We’ll have much to say about the police response, but no criticism of this officer."
Officers waited 77 minutes before engaging the gunman, who killed 21 people, including 19 children.
The release of the surveillance video has been subject to scrutiny. The Austin American-Statesman published the video days before a Texas House committee was scheduled to release it.
Families of the victims criticized the paper for sharing the video before they got to see it and not muting the sound of gunshots. The paper said it stands by its decision to release the video.
