The city of Uvalde’s investigation into the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School has finally been released after 20 months, clearing local officers of wrongdoing and angering parents of the 19 children killed in the massacre.
Jesse Prado, a former Austin Police Department detective, was hired by Uvalde officials to investigate. He found that the city’s officers did not violate policy and, according to the Associated Press, even praised some of their actions during the deadliest classroom shooting in U.S. history. The Uvalde report contradicts previous investigations conducted by both the state and federal governments.
A previous investigation conducted by the Department of Justice found that Law enforcement officers who responded to the school shooting in Uvalde, “demonstrated no urgency” in setting up a command line and the whole operation was a “failure.”
Officers waited more than an hour before confronting the gunman, who was armed with an assault rifle, in the May 24, 2022, shooting. Parents of the victims have long said the delayed police response cost lives and have demanded accountability for those who failed to save their children.
Prado presented the findings at a meeting Thursday with both Uvalde officials and parents of the victims. In that presentation, Prado said the officers showed “immeasurable strength” in confronting the shooter. The presentation angered some of the victims’ family members.
“You said they did it in good faith. You call that good faith? They stood there 77 minutes,” said Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was among the children killed.
Prado also said that families who rushed to the school made it difficult to secure the scene and set up a chain of command.
“At times they were difficult to control,” Prado said. ” They were wanting to break through police barriers.”
City Council members echoed the parents’ disbelief in the report’s findings.
“I am embarrassed, I’m insulted. These families deserve to know, deserve these answers. They need to have a responsive explanation,” Councilmember Hector Luevano said. “For you to come here and say ‘No, everything was hunky-dory and they did their job’, I can’t accept that.”
This report comes two months after the DOJ report, but there is still an ongoing investigation into the shooting. A special grand jury has been convened to investigate the officers’ delayed response and to determine whether criminal charges can be brought against them.
So far, at least five officers who were on the scene have lost their jobs, but no officers have faced criminal charges.
