The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District in Texas suspended its police department.
Criticism poured on the department after a May shooting at Robb Elementary School due to incompetent officers. 376 officers responded to the shooting, but none of them took action.
The gunmen killed 19 children and two teachers.
An investigation found that no one stepped up to the gunman due to “‘systemic failures and egregious poor decision making’ by nearly everyone involved who was in a position of power.”
The district also fired Crimson Elizondo, the “recently hired district officer who was revealed to have been among the first state troopers to respond” to the shooting.
I wonder if Elizondo is one of the “recent developments that have uncovered additional concerns with department operations” the district cited in its explanation for suspending the department’s activities.
From The Texas Tribune:
Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Ken Mueller were placed on leave, and other officers employed with the department will fill other roles in the district, according to a Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District press release issued Friday. Mueller decided to retire, the release said.The release did not specify why Hernandez and Mueller were placed on leave. A district spokesperson did not immediately return phone and email messages.
The school district asked the Texas Department of Public Safety “for extra troopers for campus and extracurricular activities.”
The decisions also came after parents and family members of the victims protested and camped outside the school district headquarters for days:
Brett Cross, the uncle and guardian of Uziyah Garcia, celebrated the news on Twitter. Cross was Garcia’s uncle and guardian but refers to him as his son.“245 hr update!!! We did it! And we are going home!” he Tweeted, referring to the 10 days he was camped out at the district headquarters demanding action. Cross added: “They weren’t going to make a liar out of me again.”Cross previously said school district officials made a liar out of him when he promised his son he would always protect him.
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