The new videos largely affirm prior reporting and investigations that detailed law enforcement’s failures to confront the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers.
Zach Despart
Zach Despart is an enterprise and investigative reporter focusing on state government. His work on a team investigating the flawed police response to the Uvalde school shooting was awarded the 2024 Collier Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. He led the Tribune’s effort to become the first news organization to map the fragmented 50-mile Texas border wall, a project that also found the state struggled with holdout landowners along the route. After it was published, the Legislature stopped funding the wall. He previously covered Harris County for the Houston Chronicle, where he reported on corruption, elections, disaster preparedness and the region’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. His investigation on how Texas diverted Harvey aid away from areas most at risk for storms sparked a federal investigation. An upstate New York native, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science and film from the University of Vermont.
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Uvalde school shooting
Uvalde police failed to turn over some video footage from Robb Elementary shooting, department says
Chief Homer Delgado said the department has turned over the footage to the district attorney’s office and ordered an investigation into how the error occurred.
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Uvalde school shooting
After Uvalde city officials end battle over shooting records, victims’ families say other agencies need to follow suit
The city’s release ends a legal battle with news outlets, but other government agencies are withholding materials.
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We the Texans
In Texas, violating campaign ethics laws rarely yields repercussions. The attorney general’s office is to blame.
The number of fines for breaking state campaign ethics laws has exploded in recent years as Ken Paxton’s office rarely pursues stricter enforcement.
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2024 Texas Elections
Texas GOP leaders paint Harris as a disaster on border security
Everything wrong with border security is the fault of the Democratic vice president, these Republicans say.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
House ethics chair says Paxton’s claim he’s being impeached again is meritless
Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday evening said the Texas House ethics committee, which scheduled a meeting for next week, is planning to recommend impeaching him a second time.
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Higher Education
“Always go out on top”: Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp will retire June 2025
Sharp leaves after having transformed the institution, embedding it into state government, expanding its reach and boosting its academic and athletic reputation.
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Criminal Justice
Texas court finds Kerry Max Cook innocent of 1977 murder, ending decades-long quest for exoneration
The Texas Criminal Court of Appeals cited stunning allegations of prosecutorial misconduct that led to Cook spending 20 years on death row.
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2024 Texas Elections
How Texas Speaker Dade Phelan turned the tide to keep his seat
After coming in second in the primary, Phelan was at a disadvantage heading into the runoff. With record breaking cash infusions, Phelan blanketed airwaves and hired an army of campaign staffers.
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2024 Texas Elections
House Speaker Dade Phelan wins runoff, surviving challenge by Texas GOP’s far-right forces
Business-minded Republicans spent millions trying to save Phelan, whose far-right opponent had the backing of Donald Trump, Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick. Phelan won by 366 votes, according to unofficial returns.