Hallway footage from Robb Elementary has surfaced, disproving the widely spread claim that a teacher propped open the door used by the shooter. The video shows Amy Franco kicking a rock away and pulling the door shut before the gunman entered the school, finally clearing her name.
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UVALDE, TX (3-minute read) — For more than two years, Amy Franco lived under a cloud of blame for one of the most horrific school shootings in U.S. history. Now, video footage from inside Robb Elementary finally clears her name, showing she did not leave a door propped open that allowed the shooter to enter.
This newly surfaced video, obtained by News 4 San Antonio and Fox SA, was captured from a hallway camera inside the school during the May 2022 massacre that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. Despite being reviewed by law enforcement days after the tragedy, the footage was never made public, until now.
The video shows Franco stepping outside with a cart to meet a colleague, propping the door open with a rock momentarily. However, as soon as she hears the crash of the shooter’s vehicle, she runs inside to get her phone and call 911. Within seconds, she re-enters the building under gunfire, kicks the rock away, and pulls the door shut.
Revealing the Truth in the Hallway
The footage shows every detail. Franco was visibly shaken as she screamed for other teachers to get their students inside. She stayed on the line with 911 while alerting the campus, working to save lives.
But despite her actions, then-DPS Director Steve McCraw stated at a press conference that a teacher had left the door propped open; a claim that would haunt Franco for years. Documents show that by the same day as that press conference, the school district and federal agents already knew the door had been closed.
Franco and her supervisor were told by the FBI and Texas Rangers, in a hospital room the next morning, that the surveillance footage clearly showed she was not at fault. Still, it took officials four more days to retract the false statement. The delay allowed misinformation to take root across the nation.
Now, with the video finally released, Franco is hopeful that the truth will reach the same audience that once believed the worst about her. “If the whole world saw that McCraw blamed me, then the whole world should see that video,” she said.
The footage also confirms another troubling reality: the shooter was able to open the door anyway, likely because it wasn’t locked from the outside, something Franco says had happened before. “The door was always supposed to be locked. But it wasn’t,” she recalled. “That door had issues.”
Despite the pain of revisiting that day, Franco says watching the video brought her some peace. “You can clearly see me kick that rock and then I pull the door. Now everyone else can see it too.”
Safety Tip: Always report and document faulty door locks or security issues on school or public buildings. Securing entry points is a critical part of school safety and emergency response planning.
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