Police in Uvalde, Texas – the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings at an elementary school just months earlier – have said that ‘two juveniles’ were injured at what state officials are calling a ‘gang-related’ shooting at a city park.
The Uvalde PD, which came under intense scrutiny for how it handled the shooting at Uvalde Elementary School which killed 21, made the announcement on its social channels Thursday evening.
They wrote: ‘Please AVOID the area of the Uvalde Memorial Park. The Uvalde Police Department is currently investigating a shooting with injured victims.’
The park is just over a mile from Robb Elementary School, the site of that tragic shooting.
Police reported that ‘two juveniles’ had been injured in the shooting, according to KSAT. They are currently being treated at San Antonio-area hospitals.
Police in Uvalde, Texas – the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings at an elementary school just months earlier – have said that ‘two juveniles’ were injured at a shooting at a city park
The Texas Department of Safety tweeted out this evening that the shooting is ‘gang-related’ and they’re working with local police on finding the suspects.
Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez says they are searching for two suspects who are unidentified and still at large at this time, according to KENS5.
The shooting at Uvalde Elementary on May 24 was the third-deadliest school shooting in American history. Uvalde Memorial Park is not a memorial to the victims of that shooting.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement on the shooting later that evening, calling it an outrage.
He wrote: ‘I was outraged to learn that gang violence has endangered the Uvalde community and innocent Texans this evening. I immediately called Mayor McLaughlin and County Judge Mitchell to offer the state’s full support and resources as law enforcement hunts down the gang members. After speaking with the mayor and the county judge about the immediate need for more law enforcement support, I have directed the Department of Public Safety to conduct patrol operations in the gang hotspots, send an additional six DPS trooper units to work around the clock, and begin coordinating an anti-gang effort with the city.’
He added that the state agents will work with local and county police to ‘bring the full force of justice down on these heinous criminals.’
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement on the shooting later that evening, calling it an outrage
The mass shooting at Robb Elementary School left 19 students and two teachers dead on May 24.
Robb Elementary had been closed since the deadly shooting, and students had been transferred elsewhere.
It has been well documented that hundreds of law enforcement officers waited more than hour in the hallways and outside of the school before engaging deranged mass shooter Salvador Ramos, 18.
Salvador Ramos, 18, barricaded himself inside a classroom at Robb Elementary School as he continued to fire on students and teachers
School officials have worked throughout the summer to improve safety measures at the school and have even fired its embattled police chief after a report found that cops stood back for more than an hour as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos barricaded himself inside a classroom and opened fire.
As part of its plan to improve safety measures, no students will be returning to Robb Elementary School, the site of the deadliest school massacre in nearly a decade.
Instead, CNN reports, children who were first-graders at Robb last year will start second grade at Dalton Elementary, and those who were in second and third grade at Robb last year will attend the new Uvalde Elementary — located at an existing educational complex in town.
The district has also employed 33 Texas Department of Public Safety officers to monitor the schools — none of whom would be among the dozens who failed to promptly respond to the shooting.
School officials have also hired 10 more police officers to patrol the school, installed 500 new security cameras, fired embattled schools police chief Pete Arredondo and are searching for a new superintendent.
Additionally, they are increasing the district’s emotional support services for students, with comfort dogs on every campus for the first few weeks of school and more school counselors and trauma-informed care training for all staff members.
Police are pictured on May 24 waiting outside Robb Elementary School
A Texas House committee report found that the police did not have clear leadership, with Arredondo not realizing he was in charge
Those who still feel uncomfortable could also sign up for remote learning, using tablets provided by the school district.
Others, though, have now decided to transfer to the local Catholic School, where enrollment among elementary-school-aged children has doubled after 30 students from Robb Elementary School received scholarships to the private school.
A massive $27 billion class action lawsuit seeking accountability and justice for the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead in Uvalde, Texas is set to be launched.