UVALDE, Texas (Nexstar) — Families of children killed at Robb Elementary School walked out of a Uvalde City Council meeting Thursday as the city unveiled a report that recommended all Uvalde police officers be exonerated of wrongdoing in their response to the shooting.
The independent investigation commissioned by the City of Uvalde left families demanding accountability for officers who waited over an hour to intervene as a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.
Former Austin Police Department detective Jesse Prado examined the actions of each Uvalde police officer as they responded to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history on May 24, 2022.
The report recommends that each police officer should be “exonerated,” stating in most of their cases: “No evidence of serious acts of misconduct in direct violation of Uvalde Police Department’s policies was found in his behavior in response to the incident. I find that (this officer) acted in good faith.”
But the matter-of-fact report, prepared “in anticipation of litigation," was appalling to families who have demanded the city terminate officers who waited for over an hour to breach the classroom in which their children were dead and dying.
“We keep getting kicked while we are down,” said Kim Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed. “No policy change will eliminate their fear and their hesitation to do what is right in the positions they serve."
The meeting often erupted into frustrated screaming, the crowd chanting “coward” directed toward Prado as he left the room shortly after his remarks. Pressure from the crowd brought him back, in which he spent about an hour listening to families lambast his report.
"There's kids dead, teachers dead. Children who survived in the class bleeding, teachers who are never going to be the same. And you're going to tell me nobody did anything wrong? Shame on you. Shame on you,” said Laura Garza, the aunt of young victim Amerie Jo.
The investigation comes months after the Department of Justice released its review of the shooting, in which it found "cascading failures" of the nearly 400 law enforcement officers who responded to the scene that day. While officers from several local, state and federal agencies rushed to the scene, they waited more than an hour to breach the classroom and take down the the 18-year-old gunman.
The DOJ report is one of several investigations into the shooting, and cited themes of leadership failures in response to the shooting — citing lack of communication and failure to establish a command post on-scene. The federal government's findings followed similar themes to a summer 2022 Texas House Committee investigation into the shooting. The House’s 77-page document uncovered the miscommunication among officers which led to a delay in stopping the shooter.
Prado’s report comes to similar conclusions, finding department-wide failures in communication, leadership, and preparedness.
It also comes amid an ongoing criminal investigation by Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell’s office. A grand jury was summoned earlier this year and some law enforcement officials have already been asked to testify, according to the Associated Press.
Former Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin commissioned the third-party investigation in June 2022, citing frustrations with other agencies reviewing law enforcement action, like the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Uvalde County District Attorney's office.