Uvalde City Council says all police officers present at the Robb Elementary School shooting are now suspects and will face a strict investigation to determine if a crime was committed.
“This investigation is looking at every single officer and what his actions were—what he did, what our policy says — and basically, we’re going to get a report on everybody,” council member Ernest “Chip” King III said.
“We will act on it and we promise that to you.” The investigation is looking at every single officer and what his actions were. “What he did, what our policy says,” he added.
King said that Jesse Prado, a former Austin police detective and the main investigator selected by the council, will conduct interviews with Uvalde police officers who responded to the scene of the incident.
“He’s going to be doing the inquiry. We’re going to let the investigation proceed and see what he concludes,” he added. He adds that members of the Uvalde Police Department who were there will be held responsible for their actions. This is regardless of the outcome of the investigation.
“It is a debt that we owe to the families. Another member of the council named Everardo Zamora remarked, “We want to get it right.” “Zamora made this statement, alluding to the tragedy that has befallen the community of Texas ever since the attack that resulted in the deaths of 19 kids and two instructors.
Because of the wait of eighty minutes from the time the first bullets were fired and the time the shooter was eventually killed, the response of law enforcement to the massacre, which was the second bloodiest in a K-12 school in the United States has been severely criticized.
Uvalde City Council says all police officers present at the Robb Elementary School shooting are now suspects and will face strict investigation
The Uvalde Police Department officers were among the first law enforcement personnel to arrive at the school. That is, the school where a shooter opened fire on people outside the building. He entered the school through a side door. He then went into a classroom where he fired more than a hundred rounds of ammunition.
On May 24, about 380 police officers from 22 different agencies were called to the scene of a shooting.
On Tuesday, officials stated that the Uvalde Police Department had a total of 39 sworn policemen. A committee of the Texas House of Representatives looked into what happened. They found that twenty-five of them went to the scene of the crime.
The city has already put a lieutenant on administrative leave. He was serving as the acting chief of the police department on the day in question while it was investigating whether or not he should have been given charge of the force.
The state’s Department of Public Safety is looking into the situation to see if any crimes were committed.
Pedro Arredondo, the chief of police for the school district has been found at fault in two separate reviews of the response so far. One of these reviews was conducted by the investigative committee of the Texas House. The other was conducted by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University.
Neither of these reviews is considered to be a comprehensive accounting of the day and its failures. The inquiry committee also pointed out that many of the different law enforcement agencies that responded to the event did not do their jobs well.
School District Administrator
Arredondo has not provided the public with any substantial commentary about his activities on that day. According to statements made by his attorney to the Texas Tribune, Arredondo was not the “incident commander.” His lawyer has not replied to demands for comment.
According to the legislative report, the chief stated to the investigative committee of the House that he was not involved in the “consideration himself to have assumed incident command.” The chief said, “My approach and thou to respond sponding as a police officer.” My approach and thought was to respond as a police officer, the chief was quoted as saying. As a result, I did not give myself a title.“
The school district administrator has recommended that the chief be dismissed. Also, he is currently on administrative leave as a result. According to the authorities, a meeting of the school board was scheduled to vote. That is, the decision on whether or not to fire him was called off at the request of the chief’s counsel.
Demands that cops be removed from their patrol duties
A few attendees voiced their support for putting city police officers who attended the school on administrative leave. This was during the meeting of the municipal council.
“I am aware that parents seek explanations. On the city council, there is no one who is more reluctant to provide such answers than I am “During the section of Tuesday’s council meeting that was open to the public, Hector R. Luevano, a member of the Uvalde City Council, stated.
Uvalde City Council
He continued by saying, “As a former law enforcement officer, I have some insight into the necessary steps that need to be taken.” He said, “I can assure the families in this community that I will do everything within my power as a member of this council to give you the answers that you need to hear.”
“If there’s any officer that’s in violation of any policy or procedure that they needed to act on but didn’t and might have caused these children to die, these teachers to die, I can assure you that heads are going to roll,” Luevano said.
The members of the council have stated that their investigator should conclude his investigation within the next two months. After that, Prado will tell the council what he thinks should be done, which could include punishments.
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A member of the Council calls out the governor of Texas
After the school board did it the night before, the council followed suit and passed a resolution requesting that Governor Greg Abbott call a special session of the state Legislature to consider raising the minimum age for purchasing a semi-automatic, military-style rifle. This resolution was similar to the one that the school board passed the night before.
The shooter in Uvalde celebrated his 18th birthday by buying two firearms resembling AR-15s for himself. During the slaughter, he utilized one of them.
Luevano stated that it is probable that the governor will disregard the demands. He also mentioned Abbott’s ties with the National Rifle Association. He also added that the organization had supported Abbott’s campaign. Luevano also cited the fact that the National Rifle Association had funded Abbott’s campaign.
“The question now is, will this extraordinary session actually take place?” Not in my opinion, “he said. “Why do we feel the need to request a special session, anyway?” Why doesn’t he be the one to start things off? “
Luevano said, “I don’t even think he cares about Uvalde,” referring to the other man.
It was revealed the week before that Mr. Abbott had not attended the burial of a single one of the 21 people who had been killed in the tragedy.
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