The Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District Police are no longer cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) investigation into the Robb Elementary mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, police sources reportedly said.
ABC News correspondent Aaron Katersky reported that the local police decided to stop cooperating with the investigation after Col. Steven McCraw said it was “the wrong decision” to delay entering the classroom where a gunman was murdering children.
“The Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde ISD police force are no longer cooperating with the @TxDPS investigation into the massacre at Robb Elementary and the state’s review of police response, multiple law enforcement sources told @ABC w/ @JoshMargolin,” Katersky tweeted.
“The decision to stop cooperating occurred soon after Col. Steven McCraw held a news conference Friday during which he said the delayed police entry into the classroom was ‘the wrong decision’ and contrary to protocol,” he continued.
Contradicting the local police sources, the Texas DPS told Katersky that both the Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde CISD Police “have been cooperating with investigators.” However, while the chief of the Uvalde CISD Police and incident commander during the shooting, Pete Arredondo, gave an initial interview, he “has not responded to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers that was made two days ago.”
Just days after ordering police to stand down at the scene of the Robb Elementary mass shooting, Arredondo was quietly sworn in as a city council member on May 31, CBS Dallas reported.
On Sunday, the Department of Justice announced that it will conduct an investigation of the law enforcement response to the mass shooting.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events. The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent,” it added. “The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.”
Prior to the DOJ’s announcement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott demanded an investigation, asserting he was misled in briefings that immediately followed the deadly attack.
“As everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out to — in part — to be inaccurate and I’m absolutely livid about that!” Abbott said during a press conference.
