After near two years of agonizing wait, Uvalde families are bracing for a vital update from the Department of Justice regarding the May 2022 school tragedy. This Thursday, the DOJ is set to release its findings on the law enforcement response to the Robb Elementary massacre, where 21 lives were lost in a horrific shooting spree, according to a report from Fox San Antonio.
Launched at the behest of the then-mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, just five days following the massacre, the investigation seeks to bring clarity to the actions of the more than 300 officers who waited 77 minutes before confronting the gunman. "If we can get people to be held accountable, then there's less likely for more screw ups in the future," Uziyah Garcia’s guardian Brett Cross told Fox San Antonio in an anticipation of the report's release.
Senator Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, has been a vocal proponent for transparency in the aftermath of the tragedy. "Everything that could have happened went wrong in Uvalde, Texas, it's my hope that this DOJ report sheds light on all of that. These families not only are expecting justice and transparency, they would like to see things changed in the future that so that this doesn't happen to another parent again," Gutierrez shared in a statement obtained by Fox San Antonio.
The release of the report is not only a concern for those directly affected by the tragedy but is also seen as a critical tool for law enforcement agencies nationwide. Rudy Perez, the President of the National Association of School Resource Officers, emphasized the importance of learning from past mistakes. "If you don't learn from that, then we're not growing healthy in an organization or as a country, right, or as law enforcement. I can tell you the lessons that is learned in that is that we have to continue to protect our children and put politics aside and make sure we have the tools, the right people in place, and the right heart in place to do the job that we have to do in law enforcement," Perez conveyed in a statement to Fox San Antonio.
Brett Cross has expressed his intention that the report become a staple in law enforcement training to prevent future failures. "It needs to be some sort of, of their teachings in their and their practice. So that, you know, this doesn't happen again," Cross said, as quoted by Fox San Antonio. While the content of the DOJ investigation remains under wraps, Cross affirmed the DOJ's transparency with the families since the beginning of their inquiry.
