Robb Elementary, the Texas school where 19 children and two adults were killed in a mass shooting in May, will be demolished, the mayor of Uvalde said during a City Council meeting.
“It’s my understanding and I had this discussion with the superintendent that school will be demolished,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin reportedly said at the meeting. “You could never ask a child to go back or a teacher to go back to that school. Ever.”
The announcement of the demolition comes despite the fact that an investigation into the school shooting is still underway. It also comes just a day after a new photo was released purporting to show Uvalde police, from multiple agencies, armed with rifles and bullet proof ballistic shields standing in the hallway while the shooter was killing his victims in a room several feet away.
BREAKING: New photo released of Uvalde police with BALLISTIC SHIELDS in the hallway of the school. Timestamped at 12:04pm
These officers were ordered to stand down by Police Chief Pete Arredondo pic.twitter.com/dgivMP1Bi6
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 21, 2022
In a separate hearing on June 21, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw blasted law enforcement in their handling of the incident.
“There’s compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre,” McCraw said. “Three minutes after the subject entered the west building, there was sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract, and neutralize the subject. The only thing stopping the hallway of dedicated officers from entering room 111 and 112 was the on scene commander who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”
McCraw issued pointed criticism of police leadership in their handling of the incident and the length of time it took them to engage the shooter:
“The officers had weapons, the children had none. The officers had body armor, the children had none. The officers had training, the subject had none. One hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds. That’s how long the children waited, and the teachers waited in room 111 to be rescued. And while they waited the on scene commander waited for a radio and rifles. Then he waited for shields. Then he waited for SWAT. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed.”
McLaughlin says that he has not been briefed on how the investigation is going. He also accused DPS of making misleading statements to protect law enforcement officers.
No timeline has been provided for when the demolition of the school building will commence.
