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A Uvalde police officer who resigned after being reprimanded by parents for not intervening in the massacre was rehired to protect the school.
Crimson Elizondo, 45, has now been fired from her position at the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District after another protest from parents.
Elizondo, a former officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety, was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene of the May 24 shooting.
She was caught on a bodycam outside the building and made no attempt to enter the building.
Elizondo quietly resigned when an investigation was launched into the police response.
She was then accepted into the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD).
In her new position, she was given the task of protecting survivors of the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Parents said they recognized her immediately when they saw Elizondo in school this week and demanded that she be fired.
The school district said she was fired from her position on Thursday and apologized to the families of the victims.
“We are deeply saddened by the information released last night about one of our recently hired employees, Crimson Elizondo,” UCISD said, referring to Elizondo’s infamous statement in the aftermath of the shooting.
Bodycam footage showed Elizondo caring for survivors and telling a police officer she would have rushed to the school if her son was in danger.
‘Yes, my son is in daycare, he is not old enough. Yes no, if my son had been there I wouldn’t have been out, I promise you,” she said.
The district added: “We sincerely apologize to the victim’s families and the wider community of Uvalde for the pain this disclosure has caused.”
Crimson Elizondo, a former officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety, was hired by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, despite an investigation into the failure to respond to the school shooting.
Elizondo was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, with investigators noting that she had not properly equipped herself with her body armor and rifle
After that, she spent most of her time outside of school, telling colleagues she would be in the building if it was her son there.
The victims’ parents said they immediately recognized Elizondo in her new job at Uvalde Elementary school from the body camera footage that showed her among the seven DPS cops waiting while students were shot.
Brett Cross, who lost his son, Uziyah Garcia, in the massacre, said he was disgusted to see Elizondo at school, despite assuring parents that those who abandoned their children would not be accepted into the school.
“I asked when they said we would get more officers, if they were hiring officers who were there on May 24,” he said of the UCISD’s decision to hire 10 additional officers after the massacre. ‘They said to me, ‘No.’
“And frankly, I’m pissed off at the comments she had to say,” Cross added.
After UCISD chief Pete Arredondo resigned over criticism of his leadership for ending the shooting quickly, Elizondo was one of seven DPS officers under investigation for not acting alongside the former chief.
She was one of the first officers on the scene, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was left alone for 77 minutes when he killed 19 students and two teachers and injured 17 others.
Bodycam video of the incidents shows Elizondo, without her proper body armor or rifle outfitted, with other officers waiting to act.
Parents of the victims are now demanding that Elizondo be fired from the UCISD, which has since removed her profile from its website.
“We are outraged and angry at Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD)’s decision to hire Officer Crimson Elizondo,” the families said in a statement. “Her hiring calls into question the credibility and thoroughness of the UCISD’s HR and vetting practices.”
Like Cross, Kimberly Garcia, who lost her daughter Amerie, responded to Elizondo’s comments and called on her and DPS director Steven McCraw to resign.
‘It wasn’t your baby, was it? That’s why you didn’t respond to “Officer Elizondo,” Garcia tweeted. ‘She was there IN MINUTES? But her kid wasn’t there, so it didn’t matter.
‘MY CHILD WAS IN THERE! My child was BANG! She was in danger! Those babies and 2 teachers were in there! McCraw SHUT DOWN NOW!’
Gloria Cazares, who also lost her daughter Jackie in the massacre, echoed the outrage on social media, writing: ‘What mother would leave another mother’s babies in those rooms to die!
‘If this isn’t proof enough, what the hell is???????? This is proof that @Uvalde_CISD doesn’t care about our kids. How can she resign from DPS during an investigation and be hired for @Uvalde_CISD.’
Elizondo was not immediately available for comment.
Sources familiar with the investigation into DPS’s response told CNN that Elizondo and her colleagues in the department were under investigation for “actions that may not be consistent with training and requirements.”