The Uvalde School Police Department has been suspended and Texas Department of Public Safety officers will provide coverage for the school district, district officials announced Friday.
“As a result of recent events, Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Ken Mueller have been placed on administrative leave and the district has made the decision to suspend all activities of the Uvalde CISD Police Department for a period of time,” in a statement. district said.
Hernandez was the acting district police chief. Mueller was director of student services and plans to retire. The officers still employed will fill other roles in the district, officials said.
The district has asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide additional troopers for campus and extracurricular activities.
“We are confident that the safety of staff and students will not be compromised during this transition,” the statement said.
District Superintendent Hal Harrell announced Friday that the school board plans to consider his retirement options and a transition plan at a meeting next week.
The decision comes just days after a CNN investigation revealed that a former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, Crimson Elizondo, who is under investigation for a delayed response to the Robb Elementary School shooting on May 24, was hired as a Uvalde School District Police Officer. months after the riot that left 19 children and two teachers dead. He was fired less than a day later after a whirlwind of criticism and anger from parents, district officials confirmed Thursday.
CNN reported that Elizondo had responded to the shooting within the first two minutes after the man entered the school and was among 91 DPS officers who waited in the hallway for 77 minutes before confronting the shooter , while children inside the classroom frantically called 911 for help. .
Audio of Crimson Elizondo captured in Uvalde on CNN
A video released by CNN on Thursday shows Elizondo arriving in uniform with a gun, then again in the hallway with the body camera footage of another officer. Later in the video, she can be heard on body camera footage talking to other officers after being asked if she had children at school that day.
“If my son had been in there, I wouldn’t have been out,” she said. “I promise you.”
According to CNN’s investigation, Elizondo left her job at DPS over the summer and was hired by the Uvalde school district to protect children at Uvalde Elementary, where many of the Robb Elementary survivors now attend. school
Month:A survivor of the Uvalde shooting can’t bear to go back to school. She is not the only one.
Officers’ audio upsets parents of Uvalde school parents
The news sparked a wave of criticism and anger among Uvalde parents, including parents who lost their children in the massacre.
Kimberley Garcia, the mother of Amerie Garza who died in the shooting, blasted Elizondo on Twitter, saying: “He wasn’t your baby, was he? That’s why you didn’t go into ‘Officer Elizondo’? He was there in minutes ? But her son wasn’t there, so it didn’t matter. My son was in there! My son was scared! He was in danger!”
“Those babies and two teachers were in there! McCraw resigns now!” Garza’s mother wrote, referring to DPS Director Steven McCraw.
Gloria Cazares, Jackie Cazares’ mother, also shared criticism on Twitter saying“This is proof that the Uvalde school district does not care about our children.”
Several other parents who lost children, incl Lexi Rubio’s mother and Uziyah Garcia’s guardian, also expressed anger and frustration.
How Uvalde CISD is responding
The district apologized for the decision Thursday and confirmed that Elizondo had been fired from his position with the district’s police force.
“We are deeply distressed by the information that was revealed last evening regarding one of our newly hired employees, Crimson Elizondo,” the district said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize to the families of the victims and the greater Uvalde community for the pain this revelation has caused. Ms. Elizondo’s statement on the audio is inconsistent with the District’s expectations.”
Over the summer, Uvalde School District officials said the district planned to hire several district police officers and security personnel as part of school security improvements made in response to the shooting.
A special Texas House committee tasked with investigating the shooting determined that top-to-bottom failures combined to make the May 24 attack the worst school shooting in Texas history, including not having a specific officer to patrol Robb Elementary.
Five officers, including former Police Chief Pete Arredondo, made up the school’s police force.
Parents this summer called for her ouster, along with former Robb Elementary Principal Mandy Gutierrez, who was placed on leave and then reassigned.
District officials said in the statement that they “continue to make personnel decisions based on verifiable information.” An independent investigation is underway to evaluate the actions of the current officers who responded on May 24, but “recent developments uncovered additional concerns with the department’s operations.”
The results of the investigation will help determine future personnel decisions, officials said.
Officials from other law enforcement agencies, including the Uvalde Police Department, have said they are internally reviewing their response to the Uvalde school shooting and will act on its findings . Acting Uvalde Police Lt. Chief Mariano Pargas was placed on administrative leave in July.
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