A little over four months after the massacre at Robb Elementary School, which left 19 kids and two teachers dead, Hal Harrell, the superintendent of schools in Uvalde, Texas, announced his retirement.
The Uvalde school board unanimously decided to start looking for Harrell’s successor at a meeting on Monday night.
Outside before the meeting began, Harrell’s supporters could be seen gathering. However, a number of guests, some of whom are relatives of the shooting victims, shouted out throughout the proceedings against Harrell and the school board, condemning their responses to the incident. There were cheers and applause from other guests to such comments.
A lady spoke in Harrell’s defense after a string of speakers who were critical of him. There was cheering for her words as well.
In the months after the killing, the police reaction to the May 24 massacre has come under heavy examination, and the administration of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District has been charged with failing to put in place the necessary safeguards to prevent the mass shooting.
In response to “recent events” that “uncovered new problems with department operations,” the entire Uvalde CISD police force was placed on administrative leave last week, according to Anne Marie Espinoza, executive director of communications and marketing.
That action was taken soon after Crimson Elizondo, a department employee who had previously worked for the Texas Department of Safety and reacted to the shooting at Robb Elementary, was fired. In body cam video from the day of the incident, Elizondo is heard telling other police present at the scene, according to CNN: “I wouldn’t have been outside if my kid had been in there. I’ll keep my word.”
In a study released in July, Texas legislators found “systemic failings and flagrant bad decision making” in the reaction to the massacre, which saw rescuers delay going up to the shooter in a classroom for more than an hour.
According to the investigation, “the lack of leadership may have contributed to the loss of life as wounded victims waited for assistance for more than an hour while the assailant continued to randomly fire his weapon.”
Although the committee came to the conclusion that it was “possible some of the victims may have lived if they had not had to wait 73 extra minutes for rescue,” the report states that the majority of the victims “perished quickly.”
In addition, the investigation said that the responding cops “failed to follow their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize preserving the lives of innocent victims above their own safety.”
Former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo was let off in August.