HOUSTON — The Uvalde, Texas, school district said Friday it has suspended its police department’s operations amid ongoing questions about its officers’ response to the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary. School and a sustained protest by the parents of the victims.
The district previously fired department chief Pete Arredondo, who state officials say was the incident commander during the shooting and bore responsibility for delaying a confrontation with the shooter for more than an hour after the start of the shooting. The shooter killed 19 children and two teachers.
But according to a state Board of Investigation report, the failures of the police response to the school extended beyond Mr. Arredondo to include many other officers from local, state and federal agencies. who also haven’t gone through standard police training, which calls for officers to rush. to face a shooter who is actively shooting.
The school district said in a statement on Friday that it had placed the officer who succeeded Mr. Arredondo, Lt. Miguel Hernandez, and another district employee, Ken Mueller, on administrative leave. Mr. Mueller, the director of student services, had decided to retire, the statement said.
“Recent developments have revealed additional issues with department operations,” the district said in explaining its decision.
The statement did not detail what those developments were, but the move comes amid a long protest at the district offices of several relatives of the victims who, at times, prevented employees from entering.
Brett Cross, who camped outside the offices for nine nights, returned home on Friday, saying he and the other families viewed the district’s decision as a direct result of their efforts.
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“It shouldn’t have lasted this long,” said Mr Cross, who raised his nephew, 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, as a son until the day he was killed at school. “It’s our first victory, but it won’t be the last.”
The school district also informed staff and parents Friday that Superintendent Hal Harrell plans to retire. His retirement would be the subject of a closed session at a school board meeting on Monday, according to the posted agenda.
The suspension of the police department — which was made up of five officers, including Lt. Hernandez, and a security guard — also followed CNN revelations that the school district over the summer hired a former department officer. of Texas Public Safety who had been among the first on the scene at Robb Elementary but did not move to confront the shooter.
In police body camera footage released by the City of Uvalde, the officer, Crimson Elizondo, can be seen with his gun drawn just outside the school.
Other footage, which appeared to be from her own body camera and was released by CNN, captured Officer Elizondo suggesting she might not have stayed out of school if her own child was on the inside.
“If my son had been in there, I wouldn’t have been out,” she said. “I promise you.”
Some parents recognized her from the footage as one of several new officers who had been hired by the Uvalde School District – after quitting her job with the state – to provide additional security on school campuses. .
The district fired Ms. Elizondo shortly after the new video footage was released on Thursday and faced further questions about what it knew about the nature of her role in the May 24 response.
According to emails and other documents provided by the Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde school police supervisor who had been directly involved in her hiring, Lt. Hernandez, was told that Ms. Elizondo was the one of several officers being investigated by the state. the police in “actions incompatible with the training and requirements of the service”.
“This school district had all the information about the status of the person they had chosen to hire,” Gov. Greg Abbott said when asked about Ms. Elizondo on Thursday. “It’s up to the school district, not the DPS, no one else, to take responsibility for the bad decision he made.”
But Roland Gutierrez, a state senator representing the area, said Mr Abbott seemed eager to “pass the buck” when it came to the officer.
“If you look at the letter that was sent by the DPS, it says nothing about her being under investigation for her role at Uvalde,” Senator Gutierrez said.
The former state trooper’s hiring by the Uvalde School District was part of an effort to increase the size of its police department, which operates separately from the much larger Uvalde Police Department, and has jurisdiction over school campuses.
Instead, due to the suspension announced on Friday, the district will operate for some time without its own small cadre of officers.
In its statement, the district said it has requested additional officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety to keep its schools safe.