Parents of kids killed in Uvalde shooting slam city’s report that defends police response: ‘Cowards’
Parents of children killed in the Uvalde school shooting stormed out of a city council meeting Thursday after an investigator hired by the city detailed the findings of his report on the mass slaughter that defended the police response.
The grieving parents tearfully bashed the report and shouted “Cowards” after the investigator at points praised the actions of local police who responded to the May 24, 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 young students and two teachers.
The report — completed and presented by Austin-based investigator and former cop Jesse Prado — acknowledged the many failures of the 400 police and law enforcement officers that day but found that they did not violate policies despite waiting more than an hour to confront the gunman.
“You said they did it in good faith. You call that good faith? They stood there 77 minutes,” said Kimberly Mata-Rubio, whose 10-year-old daughter Lexi was killed by the gunman, after the presentation.
Prado also praised the officers for showing “immeasurable strength” and “level-heading thinking” as they came under fire from the shooter armed with an AR-style rifle and decided against shooting into a dark classroom.
He left immediately following his presentation but returned shortly after family members shouted “Bring him back!” during the emotional city council meeting.
Families of the victims were then given time to speak as they tearfully skewered the report as well as the city council and the Ulvade police.
“My daughter was left for dead,” Ruben Zamorra said. “These police officers signed up to do a job. They didn’t do it.”
His daughter, Mayah, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition after she was shot in three places in her classroom. She underwent countless surgeries and spent 66 days in the hospital, making her the last victim of the shooting to be discharged, according to the Austin American Statesman.
At least one council member also criticized the report.
Council Member Hector Luevano said he was both “embarrassed” and “insulted” by its findings.
“These families deserve more. This community deserves more,” he said. “I don’t accept this report.”
Prado did recount multiple failures by local, state and federal officers who responded to the mass shooting, including communication issues, poor active shooter training, lack of equipment and delays breaching the classroom where the shooter was.
“There were problems all day long with communication and lack of it. The officers had no way of knowing what was being planned, what was being said,” Prado said. “If they would have had a ballistic shield, it would have been enough to get them to the door.”
He also found that the Uvalde Police Department’s SWAT team had not trained consistently since before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of the same failures were detailed in a scathing 600-page investigation into the shooting by the Justice Department released in January. The department said the officers acted with “no urgency” to establish a command post and chain of commands — incorrectly assuming the subject was barricaded despite ongoing gunfire and desperate 911 calls from kids in the classroom with him.
“Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in active shooter situations and gone right after the shooter and stopped him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said when the federal report was released.
Following the fall-out, at least five officers who were on the scene of what became one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings in history lost their jobs, including the school police chief Pete Arredondo.
No officers have faced criminal charges, but Ulvade District Attorney Christina Mitchell is conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into the law enforcement response. Some officers and officials have already been asked to testify.
With Post wires
