- The 12-member special grand jury was convened Friday to consider whether any of the nearly 400 officers will be charged
- Jurors are expected to spend at least six months reviewing evidence
- It comes a day after the DOJ criticized law enforcement in Texas for their “epic failure” by waiting 77 minutes to intervene while 19 students and two teachers were killed.
A grand jury has convened in Uvalde to consider charges against law enforcement officers, a day after a blistering DOJ report condemned them for their “epic failure” in response to the massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
The 12-member special grand jury was convened Friday to consider whether any of the nearly 400 police officers who responded to the May 24, 2022 shooting and waited 77 minutes before killing the Robb Elementary School shooter will face criminal charges, reported the police. Uvalde Leader News.
Jurors are expected to spend at least six months reviewing evidence.
“My office continues to methodically and systematically dissect the Texas Rangers investigation that has been under my control for less than a year,” local prosecutor Christina Mitchell told the local newspaper.
Police Chief Pete Arredondo, left. Police are deployed in a hallway after Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School to kill 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, U.S., May 24, 2022
Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the Uvalde school police chief who oversaw the flawed law enforcement response to the Uvalde school shooting, was fired
“I want to ensure that our efforts in this process are careful, deliberate and fair. I am constantly aware of my responsibility to the victims, their families, those under a cloud of accusations and our community.”
Parents of the children slaughtered in the school massacre are demanding that police who allow their children to die be charged.
‘About time,’ tweeted Brett Crosswhose son Uziyah “Uzi” Garcia was among the 19 students and two teachers killed.
‘As I said to the press yesterday: I hope this will light a fire under her… and that seems to be the case. Thank you @dojphofficial!!!’
Students who had been shot and trapped in two classrooms with the gunman called 911 as police stood outside waiting for backup.
Law enforcement officers waited 77 minutes before intervening in the school massacre
The DOJ report named several officers, including former school district police chief Pete Arredondo, who was the incident commander.
In the aftermath and anger over the botched police response, Arredondo claimed he was never designated as incident commander.
However, the DOJ report made clear that generally accepted police procedures meant that Arrendondo was the person responsible for the police response, as he was one of the first officers to arrive, knew the school and was the head of the department.
At Arredondo’s direction, other officers who wanted to confront the gunman were ordered to withdraw, including one officer whose wife was in the classrooms where the bullets were flying.