School Shooting: Police Blamed a Teacher to Cover Up Their 77-Minute Failure

On May 24, 2022, a tragedy unfolded at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. An 18-year-old gunman, armed with a semi-automatic AR-15-style rifle, entered the school and murdered 19 children and two teachers. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. And while the grief was immediate, so too was the need for answers.

As shock gave way to outrage, attention turned to how the gunman had gained entry. How was it possible that he breached the school? Where were the police? Why did it take more than an hour to neutralize the threat?

Under the weight of growing public scrutiny, Texas authorities offered a simple explanation: a teacher had left a door propped open.

They said it matter-of-factly. They did not say it was under investigation. They did not suggest it was a detail to be verified. They said it happened, and they named the person responsible: Amy Marin-Franco.

A Convenient Scapegoat

Franco, a dedicated educator and staff member at Robb Elementary, was thrust into the public eye as the person who had, supposedly, allowed the shooter access. The accusation traveled globally within hours. It was carried in headlines, news broadcasts, and official briefings.

Steven McCraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), confirmed the accusation during a press conference just three days after the shooting, stating that a teacher had propped open the door and that this action had directly enabled the massacre.

The implication was unmistakable: while police failed to intervene for 77 agonizing minutes, while children bled inside classrooms and parents begged for action outside, the person who had “left the door open” was the one to blame.

It was a deflection — and it was false.

What the Footage Shows

More than a year later, newly obtained security footage and internal records have surfaced — and they tell a very different story.

In the footage, now viewed and verified by multiple news outlets including CNN and News 4 San Antonio, Amy Marin-Franco is seen running toward the door after hearing a crash outside. The shooter had just crashed his vehicle into a ditch near the school. Franco quickly steps out, sees what’s happening, and runs back inside.

But before re-entering, she kicks away a rock that had been holding the door ajar — a common practice at many schools to allow for easy movement between buildings during breaks. Then she pulls the door shut behind her.

This detail is critical: the door was not left open, as authorities claimed. It was closed.

Inside the hallway, the footage shows Franco shouting warnings, alerting her colleagues, and calling for children to hide. “There is a guy with a gun! The kids are running!” she screams, running from door to door. Her actions, seen clearly on camera, are those of someone doing everything they can to protect others.

She was not negligent. She was a first responder.

The Door Didn’t Lock — and They Knew It

The question then becomes: if the door was closed, how did the shooter enter?

The answer lies in school maintenance records, which were buried for months but have since come to light. The exterior door in question — a side door near the west entrance of the school — had a broken locking mechanism. It was known to malfunction. The issue had been reported prior to the shooting but was never resolved.

So even though Franco shut the door, as the footage confirms, the door may not have locked — allowing the shooter to enter minutes later without any forced entry.

This defect, which should have been central to the investigation from the beginning, was not mentioned during early press briefings. Instead, the focus remained on a teacher — on Franco — who had already been cleared internally by the very same agencies that blamed her.

Email records reveal that law enforcement had reviewed the footage on the same day they publicly blamed her. They knew she had closed the door. They knew the narrative was false.

They said it anyway.

Why Blame Her?

Why would law enforcement risk spreading a provably false claim? Because the alternative — the truth — was damning.

The truth was that hundreds of police officers from multiple agencies, including local, state, and federal units, waited outside classrooms for over an hour while children were trapped with the shooter. Some of those children called 911 repeatedly, begging for help. Others bled to death.

There was a complete failure of command, communication, and courage. Police had the training, the weapons, and the numbers — but they failed to act.

To admit that is to confront an institutional disgrace. Blaming a teacher, however falsely, shifted focus. It created the illusion that the tragedy had begun with a small human error — a door left open — and not with a catastrophic abandonment of duty.

The Damage Is Done

Even after the footage emerged, it took weeks for DPS to walk back the claim. When they did, it was in muted statements — buried in transcripts, not delivered with the same force as the original accusation.

For Amy Marin-Franco, the consequences were lasting. She became the face of a lie. Online, she was harassed and vilified. Locally, she was whispered about. Her colleagues knew the truth, but the world didn’t. She endured grief, guilt, and rage — all while knowing that she had done the right thing.

The institutions that were supposed to protect her instead used her to protect themselves.

The Global Stakes

This is not just a story about Uvalde. It’s not just about Texas or about one school or one teacher. It is about what happens when the powerful use misinformation to escape accountability — and how systems will often sacrifice truth to protect their own.

This story resonates globally because it speaks to a universal pattern: when institutions fail, they rarely fall on the sword. Instead, they find someone smaller to blame.

The difference in Uvalde is that the lie was caught on tape.

Justice, Still Waiting

The families of Uvalde’s victims still await full accountability. Criminal investigations into police response continue, but progress is slow. Body camera footage, internal communications, and full surveillance videos remain partially sealed, often justified by “ongoing investigations.”

The narrative has shifted, but the damage lingers — not only in Franco’s life but in the lives of the families, the survivors, and the community that was misled.

Truthlytics stands committed to uncovering these truths, especially when they are inconvenient for those in power. We believe journalism must not only report facts but challenge the narratives that bury them.

Amy Marin-Franco does not owe the public an apology. The public owes her justice.

And until every truth is uncovered — from the broken door to the failed command to the lies told to hide them — the real story of Uvalde remains unfinished.