ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday released two videos related to the CVPA school shooting.
The first video, which is 8 minutes and 53 seconds long, shows security video from inside and outside the school, showing the timeline of events as they occurred on Oct. 24, 2022. The security video does not have audio.
The shooting at Central Visual Performing Arts High School left 15-year-old student Alexzandria Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka dead. Police killed the shooter, 19-year-old Orlando Harris, a former student.
St. Louis police said the responding officers, students, and family members of the victims and suspect were given the chance to watch the videos before they were released. Officials said the footage was retraumatizing for those who chose to view them. The police department and school district said they have provided mental health support for those groups.
Editor's note: The videos are graphic and difficult to watch. The videos were released with blurred sections. All edits that appear in the video were made by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. 5 On Your Side is showing this video to be transparent with the public and because of the severity of the crime.
The surveillance video lays out a timeline of the events:
9:02 a.m. - In the video, Orlando Harris is seen pulling up onto the sidewalk on the Arsenal Street side of the school in a blue sedan.
9:04 a.m. - Harris gets out of his car, walks to the passenger side to get something, and then begins to approach the school.
9:07 a.m. - Harris breaks the glass of a secured door. An unarmed security guard stationed inside the door sees the shooter, ducks behind a wall, and appears to use a two-way radio to alert others in the building.
9:08 a.m. - Harris enters the school carrying a long gun and walks to the gym. The video shows a person leaving the gym as Harris is approaching. The person is blurred in the video, so it is unclear if they saw Harris. Text on the screen says Harris has fired multiple shots in the gym and is moving to the second floor.
9: 09 a.m. - The first 911 call is made. A security guard is seen running up the stairs as Harris approaches. Harris then climbs the stairs to the second floor.
9:11 a.m. - Harris is seen walking down a second-floor hallway. The video also plays audio of police being dispatched to the school. The dispatcher says, "There's an active shooter inside the gym. Shots fired in progress."
9:14 a.m. - Harris reaches the third floor.
9:17 a.m. - Text on the screen says Harris fired shots inside room 323.
9:18 a.m. - Harris drops something in the hall, pulls a fire alarm, then stands and waits to see if students will come into the hallway.
Approximately 9:20 a.m. - Police arrive on the third floor. Nearly a dozen officers converge on the corner of the hallway. At about 9:23, they locate Harris, and a shell casing can be seen coming from one of the officer's guns.
At approximately 9:26 a.m. - Text on the screen says, "Suspect 'In Custody.'"
Body camera footage shows officers arriving at CVPA. The video, which is 2 minutes and 48 seconds, shows officers climbing three flights of stairs before arriving at the corner of the hallway seen in the security video.
Officers fired shots through glass library doors before shooting the lock on the door to make entry where the gunman was. As officers storm the library, they fire numerous shots with a long rifle.
The suspect can briefly be seen falling to the ground as officers continue to fire shots. After the body falls to the ground, the video blurs the body. Police continue to fire shots until an officer yells, "ceasefire, ceasefire, suspect down."
The video then ends abruptly.
At a news conference on Monday, Major Janice Bockstruck of the police department's force investigative unit said the actions of unarmed security guards who the suspect confronted are true heroes.
"What you do not see in the video is that they never left the building. They remained inside, tracked the movements of the armed suspect, and radioed this information in. All the while alerting students and staff of the intruder's presence. They are heroes, and they saved lives," she said.
Resources for those struggling:
Project 5 and Behavioral Health Response are teaming up to provide mental health counseling. If you or anyone you know needs mental health support, call 988 to speak to a trained counselor. Teens can text BHEARD to 31658.
The Crime Victim Center of St. Louis has multiple programs to support victims of crime. Crime Victim Center's programs range from direct services to crime victims to "creating awareness and change within the systems they encounter."
Life Outside of Violence "helps those harmed by stabbing, gunshot or assault receive the treatment, support, and resources they need to find alternatives to end the cycle of violence."
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has the Neighborhood Healing Network, which serves people who have experienced crime, violence, or been the victim of an incident that caused trauma.
The Bullet Related Injury Clinic (BRIC) is a community-based clinic in St. Louis that helps people heal after they have been injured by a bullet. The BRIC was established to help people who are discharged home from the emergency department after being shot.