Uvalde, Texas, is still recovering from the horrific school shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. Salvador Ramos murdered nineteen elementary schoolkids and two teachers. Some of the victims could only be identified by the articles of clothing they were wearing that day. It was a heinous crime whose carnage could have been curtailed if law enforcement had a proactive response. The lines of communication were nothing short of disastrous, compounded by the incident commander not having his radio during the shooting. That commander was Pete Arredondo, ex-Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police chief, who was fired in the aftermath of this fiasco.
The timeline relating to the police response was also a level-five catastrophe, with the narrative changing some 13 times, each update worse for the police department than the last. It turned out that the room where Ramos holed up wasn’t locked, so the story about cops waiting for a key drew more scrutiny. Nearly 20 officers were already inside the building, and security camera footage shows them waiting in the halls as children were being slaughtered. From top to bottom, the response from law enforcement was grounded in error and inaction, leading to more suffering and death.
Apart from Democrat-run cities, this nation supports law and order and our police. But they also must be called out when they screw up or break the law. In Uvalde, that’s what the city has done, suspending the entire police force today for the gross incompetence exhibited on that fateful day (via ABC News):
The Uvalde, Texas, school district -- still facing withering criticism over its police department's failings both during the May 24 elementary school massacre and since -- announced the suspension of the entire district police force on Friday.
Hours later, Uvalde school district Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he would be retiring. There was no timeframe given for Harrell's retirement, but the transition will be discussed in a closed session of the school board on Monday.
The district said it's requested more Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be stationed on campuses and at extracurricular activities amid the police department suspension, adding, "We are confident that staff and student safety will not be compromised during this transition."
The length of the school district police suspension is not clear.
To make matters worse, Uvalde had recently hired a former Texas Department of Public Safety officer, Crimson Elizondo, who responded to Robb Elementary on the day of the shooting. Her actions are currently under investigation, but the city hired her anyway. Upon this discovery, she was promptly fired, but I’m sure such a revelation only infuriated the families of the victim further, and rightfully so. Who signed off on that hire?