UVALDE, Texas – Uvalde High School received threats over the phone the day before the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, according to documents released by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD).
In an email sent at 5:48 p.m. on May 24, 2022, a Uvalde High School receptionist told then-UCISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo that she received two calls on May 23, 2022.
In those two calls, at 4:30 p.m. and 4:46 p.m., a male caller asked the receptionist: “You know your school just got f------ shot up right? How did that feel?”
The receptionist described the caller to Arredondo as a “boy” who “sounded young, maybe 17-18 years old.”
The shooting suspect made entry into a Robb Elementary classroom and began shooting at 11:33 a.m. on May 24, 2022, according to school surveillance video.
Arredondo forwarded the email at 5:37 a.m. on June 1, 2022.
The recipient of the email was redacted, but Arredondo wrote he was also forwarding it to his “admin.”
Arredondo’s administrative leave
Among the other notable findings in the nearly 7,500 pages (7,492) worth of district documents released on Sunday include the terms of Arredondo’s administrative leave.
Officially, Arredondo’s leave was announced to the public on June 22, 2022.
One day prior, in a June 21, 2022, email sent to then-assistant superintendent Beth Reavis, UCISD Superintendent Hal Harrell asked to “visit” with her regarding Arredondo’s administrative leave paperwork.
In the drafted and final paperwork, which KSAT also obtained, Harrell wrote to Arredondo that he would eventually placed on leave while he still collected his regularly scheduled paycheck.
In addition to receiving pay, the superintendent wrote that Arredondo was not placed on administrative leave “for disciplinary purposes.”
None of Arredondo’s other benefits were affected by the leave.
As a part of the leave, Arredondo was required to cooperate with the investigations and not speak on behalf of the district, unless he received Harrell’s permission. Among other directives, Arredondo was prohibited from attending or showing up at any UCISD campus or district event.
Former Uvalde High School assistant principal resigns
Joel Barbosa, the assistant principal at Uvalde High School, formally submitted his letter of resignation to Harrell on June 22, 2022, email records indicate.
He accepted a job at a “neighboring” school district. That district, according to the Uvalde Leader-News, turned out to be the Pearsall Independent School District.
According to documents obtained by KSAT from Uvalde CISD, Barbosa was accused of sexual harassment while working with the district.
On June 17, 2022, a Uvalde High School employee emailed the high school’s principal, Randall Harris, a “formal outcry of sexual harassment” against Barbosa.
The employee wrote to Harris, in part, that Barbosa “has persistently sexually harassed me verbally for the duration of our time working together.”
Two weeks before the Robb Elementary shooting, according to the emails, the employee told Harris that Barbosa “physically touched me in an inappropriate sexual manner” for the first time.
In a June 22, 2022, emailed response to the formal resignation, Harrell expressed his gratitude to Barbosa.
“I appreciate all the work and dedication you have provided UCISD over the last several years,” Harrell wrote. “I wish you the best in your new position, (sic) I know you will do very well.”
In January 2024, the Uvalde Leader-News reported that a Pearsall ISD employee filed a misconduct claim against Barbosa on Dec. 5, 2023.
A Pearsall ISD official confirmed to KSAT on Sept. 2 that Barbosa “is no longer employed” with the district, effective Aug. 4, 2023.
As of Sept. 2, 2025, Barbosa’s teacher and principal certificate is currently under review by the TEA Educator Investigations Division.
Background
The final batch of documents, which local authorities withheld during a yearslong legal battle over public access, was supposed to be released on Aug. 11.
UCISD did release emails, Texas Public Information Act requests from reporters and student records about the 18-year-old gunman at that time — but not all their records.
>> Uvalde County records, bodycam videos show chaos, missteps and frustrations in Robb shooting
On Aug. 25, the board met in closed session for more than two hours to consult with attorneys about “legal issues related to the potential release of information related to the Robb Elementary tragedy.”
“We were not aware these records were not being released. We voted unanimously for these records to be released,” Uvalde CISD Vice President JJ Suarez said on Aug. 25.
The district’s attorney said it was the law firm’s fault for not providing all the records, not the board’s or the superintendent’s.
“There’s no excuse for that, sir. You can call it a mistake, an error — it’s a costly error," Trustee Jesse Rizo said.
Among those missing records are emails about classroom safety and a payout to the district’s police chief, according to documents viewed by CNN.
Last month, a state appeals court judge sided with KSAT and other media organizations in a 2022 lawsuit against the district and county seeking the release of their records related to the mass shooting.
Family members of the victims were among those pushing for the records to be released.
On Aug. 12, Uvalde County released a trove of records, including video that showed the chaotic moment officers breached the door and killed the gunman. The City of Uvalde released body camera footage and recordings of 911 calls in August 2024.
More recent Robb Elementary shooting coverage on KSAT: