UVALDE, TX – According to reports, both the Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force have apparently ceased all cooperation [1] with the Texas Department of Public Safety regarding the investigation into the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers at Robb Elementary School earlier in May.
When it comes to the horrific mass shooting that played out in Uvalde earlier in May, while those on both ends of the political spectrum share a multitude of disagreements on potential solutions to deter mass shootings – there’s seemingly been a shared negative outlook regarding how Uvalde Police responded [2] to the shooting.
Sources have alleged that following DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw announcement on May 27th that it was “the wrong decision” for Uvalde Police to delay their entry into the school as the shooter was still inside, Uvalde Police decided to stop cooperating with authorities running the investigation.
A spokesperson for Texas DPS released a statement to ABC News, who were inquiring about the alleged non-cooperation, with the spokesperson confirming that Uvalde Police did cooperate with officials at the onset of the investigation but have not returned any response for requests for follow-up.
“The Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde CISD Police have been cooperating with investigators. The chief of the Uvalde CISD Police provided an initial interview but has not responded to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers that was made two days ago.”
The Texas Tribune [3] reported that in light of this alleged non-cooperation, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) released a statement to their members that urged them to “cooperate fully” with leading investigators regarding the mass shooting.
CLEAT also took aim at officials who dealt in “a great deal of false and misleading information in the aftermath of this tragedy,” pointing out that some of this misinformation regarding the mass shooting “came from the very highest levels of government and law enforcement.”
CLEAT lamented the fact that “Sources that Texans once saw as iron-clad and completely reliable have now been proven false.”
On May 31st, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin stressed that those who lost loved ones need to be given the truth, as they rightfully deserve it.
“Our parents deserve answers and I trust the Texas Department of Public Safety/Texas Rangers will leave no stone unturned. Our emotions are raw, and hearts are broken, and words are sometimes exchanged because of those emotions.”
Much of the backlash that Uvalde Police have faced in the wake of the tragedy is the timeline from when officers first responded to the scene of the shooting and when they decided to breach the building, where 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos was still inside of with students who were still trapped in the school.
This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on June 1, 2022. u