United States: one year after the Uvalde massacre, the work of the police is still under scrutiny

A year after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth grade classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a Texas criminal investigation remains ongoing the hesitant response of the police facing the deadliest school shooting in state history.

Current research also looks into how the authorities themselves clouded the days after the attackproviding inaccurate and conflicting accounts of efforts to arrest the assailant, a young adult, armed with an AR-style rifle.

The investigation parallels a new wave of public anger in the United States over gun violence, renewed calls for tougher gun laws and lawsuits against Uvalde authorities, which they continue to withhold public documents relating to the shooting and the police response.

Here’s a look at what happened in the year following one of America’s deadliest mass shootings:

police check

Texas lawmakers wrote a damning report on the actions of nearly 400 officers from a variety of federal, state and local agencies. The findings determined that the heavily armed officers waited more than an hour to confront and kill the 18-year-old assailant. He also accused the police of not “prioritizing saving innocent lives over their own safety”.

all students killed they were between 9 and 11 years old.

At least five officers investigated after shooting they were fired or resigned, although the full count is unclear. Days after the attack, Texas Department of Public Safety chief Colonel Steve McCraw placed much of the blame on the Uvalde School Police Chief, who was subsequently fired.

McCraw himself had more than 90 of his police officers at the school, more than any other agency, and he also refused calls from some Uvalde families and lawmakers to resign.

Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell said last week that the Texas Rangers is still investigating the police response and that his office will eventually present the findings to an investigative jury. The prosecutor said he did not have a plan for when the investigation would end.

On Monday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said he was frustrated that the investigation had made little progress a year later.

The families of the victimsthey have no answers to the simple questions they should have,” McLaughlin admitted.

Calls for more gun control

A month after the shooting, President Joe Biden signed into law the most sweeping gun violence bill in the country in decades. The law included the perform more stringent background checks for younger gun buyers and added more funding for mental health programs and school aid.

However, he hasn’t gone as far in the restrictions as some Uvalde families were seeking, who asked lawmakers raise the minimum age to purchase AR-style rifles.

In the Republican Party-controlled Texas Capitol, Republicans this year rejected virtually all moves to tighten gun laws despite protests from families and Democrats.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, also rejected calls for tougher gun laws, as he did after mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart store in 2018. The issue has not diminished Texas voters’ support for Abbottwho easily won a third term months after the Uvalde shooting.

Uvalde in mourning

Uvalde School District permanently closed the Robb Elementary facility and there are plans to build a new school.

From a dozen students in the room where the shooting occurred they survived the attack. Some returned to face-to-face classes last fall. Others attended school virtually, including one girl who spent more than two months in the hospital after being shot multiple times.

Verónica Mata, a kindergarten teacher from Uvalde, also returned to teaching this year after her 10-year-old daughter Tess was killed in the massacre.

Some families in Uvalde filed lawsuits against the manufacturer of the gun used by the attacker and against the police.