Shooting at a Texas school: the entire police district in Uvalde was disbanded due to too slow response to an emergency

The Uvalde School District (Texas) is still under fire for the police department's response to the May 24 elementary school mass shooting. Now the county authorities have announced the suspension of the work of the entire county police. Writes about it ABC News.

Photo: IStock

Hours after the department's suspension was announced, Uwalde School District Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he was retiring. The timing of Harrell's retirement has not been announced, but the transition will be discussed at a private school board meeting.

The district said it has requested more Texas Department of Public Safety employees to accommodate on campuses and extracurricular activities amid the police department's shutdown: "We are confident that the safety of employees and students will not be compromised during this transition."

Lieutenant Miguel Hernandez, who was assigned to lead the department following the aftermath of the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, and Ken Mueller, student service director of the Uvalde Unified Independent School District (UCISD), have been placed on administrative leave.

According to the school district, Mueller has decided to retire.

"Officers currently serving will be performing other functions in the district," the school district explained. According to the website, they include four officers and one security guard.

The families of the victims, led by Brett Cross, caretaker of 10-year-old victim Uzia Garcia, were on duty around the clock outside the school district headquarters calling for change. They appreciated the police department's statement.

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“We saw a bit of accountability,” Cross remarked.

Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed, said the department's shutdown was "what we asked for."

“They don't know how to hire people, they don't know how to test officers,” Rubio said. “They didn’t provide proper training.”

Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie was killed, called the department's removal a "small victory."

“It’s a victory—a small victory,” she said. "But we're not done yet."

Berlinda Arreola, grandmother of victim Ameri Jo Garza, added: "This is a perfect example of why we didn't stop."

“We are going to continue because there are other children who still go to school here. There are many brothers and sisters of the dead who go here,” Arreola emphasized. “We want to make sure our children are safe and protected. And we want to make sure that the people who protect them are ready to protect them.”

The day before the department's suspension, Crimson Elizondo, an officer hired by the Uvalde School District, was fired despite being under investigation for her behavior as a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officer at the time of the shooting.

Elizondo was the first DPS member to enter the hallway of the school after the shooter infiltrated it. She did not take any weapons or body armor with her.

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Due to potential non-compliance with standard procedures, she was among seven DPS officers whose behavior is currently being investigated by the department's inspector general. Due to Elizondo leaving the DPS to work for the Uvalde School District Police, she was no longer subject to any internal disciplinary action or punishment.

The school district said in a statement that decisions regarding the school district's police department are pending investigations by the Association of Texas Police Chiefs and private investigative firm JPPI Investigations, but "recent events have highlighted additional issues with the department's operations."

The results of the JPPI investigation "will serve as the basis for future staffing decisions," and the Texas Police Chiefs Association's review "will serve as a guideline for rebuilding the department and hiring a new police chief," the statement said.

School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo was fired in August.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• Nineteen young children and two adults died as a result of shooting at Robb Elementary School in south Texas on May 24.
• May 27 Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Stephen McCraw provided the most detailed informationreceived by the public about the horror that unfolded at the school on May 24, and tried to provide some answers to how the police and authorities reacted to what happened.
• Among the details: a school officer drove right past the shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, while Ramos fired at the school; 19 officers were at the school more than 45 minutes before the suspect was killed; the school district police chief decided not to break into the classroom where the shooter was; a girl from a neighboring barricaded classroom called 911 several times and asked for the police to be sent while the officers were outside.
• As part of the government agency's first comprehensive investigation into the mass shooting at Uvalde Primary School, the Investigative Committee released a preliminary a report outlining a number of failures made by several law enforcement agencies in their operations at the scene.

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