Austin, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety has reinstated a police officer who was suspended after the police department’s botched response to the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde until 2022.
In a letter sent to Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell on Aug. 2 and released by the agency on Monday, DPS Director Col. Steve McCraw rescinded the officer’s suspension and reinstated him to his Uvalde County position.
McCraw’s letter noted that the local district attorney had requested that Kindell be reinstated. It also noted that he had not been indicted by a local grand jury that reviewed the police response.
The May 24, 2022, attack on Robb Elementary School left nineteen students and two teachers dead, making it one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
Nearly 400 officers waited more than an hour before confronting the shooter in the classroom, while injured students inside texted and called 911 for help and parents outside begged them to come inside.
Kindell was initially suspended in January 2023 when McCraw stated in his resignation letter that the ranger’s actions were “not consistent with department standards” and that he should have acknowledged that it was an active shooter, not a barricaded individual.
Destructive stands And federal Investigative reports on the police response have catalogued a succession of “failures” in training, communications, leadership and technological problems.
Kindell was one of the few DPS officers disciplined. Later, another who was told he was being fired decided to retire, and another officer resigned.
Only two of the responding officers that day, both formerly of the Uvalde School Police Department, face criminal charges. Former Uvalde School Police Chief Pete Arredondo and Officer Adrian Gonzales were indicted in June on charges of child abuse and abandonment. Both pleaded not guilty in July.
McCraw wrote in his reinstatement letter that Kindell was initially suspended following the agency’s internal investigation.
But now McCraw said Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell told him that a grand jury reviewed the actions of all officers who responded to the attack and that “no action was taken against any officers employed by the Texas Department of Public Safety.”
“She has further requested that you be reinstated to your former position,” McCraw wrote.
Mitchell did not respond to emailed requests for comment. It was not immediately clear whether Kindell has an attorney.
Families of the victims in the South Texas town of about 15,000 people about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of San Antonio have long sought accountability for the slow police response that day. Some families have called for more officers should be charged.
Several families of victims in Uvalde have filed federal and state lawsuits against Police, social media and online gaming companiesand the gun manufacturer who made the rifle the shooter used.