Uvalde shooting: School district suspends entire police force months after botched response at Robb Elementary
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
UVALDE, TEXAS: The Uvalde school district has suspended its entire Police department after the department failed to provide adequate aid during the May 24 elementary mass school shooting. The school district blames the negligence and poor decision-making by law enforcement after they failed to execute a proper rescue plan and avoided leadership that cost in the loss of lives as 19 kids and two adults were killed in the shooting rampage.
Hours later, Uvalde school district Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he would be retiring. The district has requested more Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be stationed on campuses and at extracurricular activities amid the police department suspension saying, "We are confident that staff and student safety will not be compromised during this transition."
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Lt Miguel Hernandez, who was tasked with leading the department, and Ken Mueller, the UCISD's director of student services, were placed on administrative leave following the massacre. The length of the school district police suspension is not known. "Officers currently employed will fill other roles in the district," the school district said. That includes four officers and one security guard, according to the district's website. Hernandez acknowledged in a law enforcement communication in August that he received a formal complaint from DPS that an officer is under investigation for her response at Robb Elementary, reported ABC news.
The department suspension comes a day after the firing of Crimson Elizondo, the officer who was rehired by Uvalde's school district despite being under investigation for her conduct as a DPS trooper during the massacre. Elizondo was the first DPS member to enter the hallway at Robb after the shooter gained entry but she failed to carry her rifle or vest into the school, as reported in an internal review by DPS. The trooper was among the seven DPS personnel whose conduct is now being investigated by the agency's inspector general after they failed to follow standard procedures. However, Elizondo resigned from DPS to work for the Uvalde schools and was no longer subject to any internal discipline or penalties. The school district's police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August.
The school district said, "decisions concerning" the school district police department have been pending results of investigations from the Texas Police Chiefs Association and the private investigative firm JPPI Investigations, but "recent developments have uncovered additional concerns with department operations," reported sources. Results of the JPPI investigation "will inform future personnel decisions" and the Texas Police Chiefs Association's review "will guide the rebuilding of the department and hiring a new chief of police."
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Families of the victim are proud of the school district's decision to suspend the police force. One of the victim's family, Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter, Lexi, was killed said, "what we've been asking for- it's more than we've been asking for," she told ABC News. "They don't know how to hire people, they don't know how to vet officers. They haven't provided proper training." Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, was killed called the suspension "bittersweet." "It's a win -- a small win and we are not done."