Calls for the Texas DPS director to tender his resignation due to the Uvalde school massacre have gained traction.
In a meeting on Thursday morning, families of those slain in the Uvalde school shooting earlier this year confronted the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety about how law enforcement handled the shooting and demanded his resignation.
Texas state senator Roland Gutierrez spoke before the Texas Public Safety Commission alongside several family members and questioned Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steven McCraw about why he has not yet resigned after declaring he would do so if DPS was found to have failed the community.
The overall law enforcement response, according to McCraw, was an “abject failure, period,” but DPS “did not fail the community,” he claimed.
McCraw said, “I absolutely need to go if DPS as an institution failed the families, the school, or the community of Uvalde. But I can assure you right now that DPS, as a whole, did not fail the community, to put it simply.”
Brett Cross calls for Texas DPS director Col. Steven McCraw to resign
McCraw was advised to resign by Brett Cross, the uncle of Uziyah Garcia, one of the 19 fourth-graders slain in the massacre. He responded to McCraw’s assertion by saying, “If you are a man of your word, then you would retire.”
McCraw had previously stated to news outlets that he would resign if it was found that the DPS had any culpability regarding the shooting response.
On May 24, a gunman entered Robb Elementary School and killed two teachers and 19 fourth-graders. Before engaging the shooter, the responding police officers let the gunman stay in the classroom for more than 70 minutes.
Jesse Rizo, Jacklyn Cazares’ uncle, questioned why so many police officers from various agencies had gathered in the hallway outside the classroom.
In the early stages of the investigation, Rizo also accused the DPS of spreading false information.
An investigation into how the police responded to the incident is still going on months after it happened. According to McCraw, by the end of the year, the Texas Rangers’ investigation into the incident will be completed.
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