AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A prison investigation in Texas over the hesitant police reaction to the Robb Fundamental Faculty taking pictures remains to be ongoing as Wednesday marks twelve months since a gunman killed 19 youngsters and two academics inside of a fourth-grade lecture room in Uvalde.
The continued probe underlines the lasting fallout over Texas’ deadliest college taking pictures and the way the times after the assault have been marred by way of government giving misguided and conflicting accounts about efforts made to prevent a teenage gunman armed with an AR-style rifle.
The investigation has run parallel to a brand new wave of public anger within the U.S. over gun violence, renewed requires stricter firearm rules and criminal demanding situations over government in Uvalde proceeding to withhold public information associated with the taking pictures and the police reaction.
Here is a have a look at what has took place within the yr since considered one of The usa’s deadliest mass shootings:
A damning file by way of Texas lawmakers put just about 400 officials at the scene from an array of federal, state and native companies. The findings laid out how closely armed officials waited greater than an hour to confront and kill the 18-year-old gunman. It additionally accused police of failing “to prioritize saving blameless lives over their very own protection.”
All the scholars killed have been between the ages of 9 and 11 years previous.
No less than 5 officials who have been put below investigation after the taking pictures have been both fired or resigned, even if a complete accounting is unclear. The pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Protection, Col. Steve McCraw, put a lot of the blame after the assault on Uvalde’s college police leader, who was once later fired by way of trustees.
McCraw had greater than 90 of his personal officials on the college — greater than some other company — and has rebuffed calls by way of some Uvalde households and lawmakers to additionally renounce.
Uvalde County District Lawyer Christina Mitchell mentioned final week that Texas Rangers are nonetheless investigating the police reaction and that her workplace will in the long run provide the findings to a grand jury. She mentioned she didn’t have a timeline for when the investigation could be completed.
On Monday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin mentioned he was once annoyed by way of the tempo of the investigations a yr later.
“They don’t have solutions to easy questions they will have to have,” McLaughlin mentioned of the households.
CALLS FOR GUN CONTROL INTENSIFY
President Joe Biden signed the country’s maximum sweeping gun violence invoice in a long time a month after the taking pictures. It incorporated harder background assessments for the youngest gun patrons and added extra investment for psychological well being systems and support to colleges.
It didn’t pass so far as restrictions sought by way of some Uvalde households who’ve known as on lawmakers to lift the acquisition age for AR-style rifles. Within the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol, Republicans this yr rejected nearly all proposals to tighten gun rules over the protests of the households and Democrats.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has additionally waved off requires harder gun rules, simply as he did after mass shootings at a Sutherland Springs church in 2017 and an El Paso Walmart in 2018. The problem has no longer became Texas citizens clear of Abbott, who simply received a 3rd time period months after the Uvalde taking pictures.
The Uvalde college district completely closed the Robb Fundamental campus and plans for a brand new college are within the works. Faculties in Uvalde might be closed Wednesday.
A few dozen scholars in the study room the place the taking pictures spread out survived the assault. Some returned to elegance in individual final fall. Others attended college nearly, together with a woman who spent greater than two months within the clinic after being shot more than one occasions.
Veronica Mata, a kindergarten trainer in Uvalde, additionally returned to elegance this yr after her 10-daughter Tess was once amongst the ones killed within the assault.
Some Uvalde households have filed complaints towards the gun maker and legislation enforcement.