Who is Ruben Nolasco? Texas sheriff who responded to Uvalde rampage had no active shooter training
UVALDE, TEXAS: The top official in Uvalde County, Texas, where 19 elementary school students and two teachers were killed by gunman Salvador Ramos last May 24, still has not completed active shooter training, according to a local aide who spoke at a Commissioners Court meeting Monday, December 12. Sheriff Ruben Nolasco, who has come under fire for his lack of leadership during the Robb Elementary massacre, is one of three officers in the department he heads who have not completed the training to date, the consultant noted. Only 20 per cent of the 15 officers in the Uvalde County Sheriff's Office had received training on handling an active shooter situation at the time of the tragedy.
Richard W Carter, who claims he was hired only to investigate the operations of the sheriff's office and not the actions of deputies on May 24, said Sheriff Ruben Nolasco was one of those who did not receive active-shooter training, according to KAGS TV. “He has not taken the course that his officers, all but three of his officers have. He plans to do that in the immediate future,” Carter told reporters after the meeting. “What I understand is he wanted to make sure all his people that might go out were trained,” Carter added.
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Uvalde school massacre: Embattled police defend handling of 'complex' shooting
Carter has revealed to reporters that Sheriff Ruben Nolasco is one of the three officers that does not have active shooter training.
— Matt Roy (@MattRoy_TV) December 12, 2022
He didn’t on May 24th and he doesn’t to this day https://t.co/v4rzC8Vdts
Ruben was one of 376 officers who came to help children and teachers during the tragic incident. However, unlike most, he had the rank and opportunity to easily take charge as he had information about the shooter and a call about victims n the classroom, and others regarded him as an informed commander. Although Nolasco had been a law enforcement officer for the city and county for more than 30 years and knew many members of the command structures of many of the multiple agencies that arrived at Robb, he chose to stay at a different crime scene which was already in control, while a far greater disaster took place. The Sheriff failed to take charge even when he arrived and didn't respond to cries for help from girls trapped with injured classmates and teachers, as per CNN.
Following the mass shootings, UCSO is one of several agencies under scrutiny for its actions. Several investigations conducted over the last six months revealed that law enforcement missed several opportunities to intervene when the gunman entered the classroom. Law enforcement breached the door of the classroom 77 minutes after the shooter entered. The reviewer claims that as part of the department's policies and procedures, there is a dictionary term differentiating an active shooter from a suspect who is barricaded. Officers wrongly assumed they were responding to a barricaded individual rather than an active shooter was one of the first excuses offered for the slow law enforcement response. One deputy's individual actions during the incident were not examined in the review that was requested; instead, it focused on departmental policy and procedures.
The presence of Mariano Pargas, a former Uvalde police officer who came under fire after it was claimed he knew some children were still alive inside the school but did nothing, added tension to the meeting. Several people called for him to resign as he attended the court's first meeting since being re-elected last month. Among them was Jesse Rizo, the uncle of Jackie Cazares, the victim, who challenged Pargas in the meeting. “He didn’t do his job as an officer, but he wants people to trust him on the job he’s in right now? How can he expect that, how can he expect the healing process to take place?" Rizo said. "He can’t."
Pargas exited the building where Texas DPS officers and Uvalde County deputies were present. Regarding his participation in the shooting reaction, he dodged inquiries. Brett Cross, the uncle of Uziyah Garcia and a vocal supporter of change since the shooting, was expelled from the meeting after a participant in the audience claimed that they had reelected Pargas.