(Houston) The school district board of Uvalde, a Texas town where 19 children and two teachers were killed at a school by a gunman in May, announced on Friday that it was suspending all police officers under its supervision, widely criticized for the slowness of their reaction during the tragedy.
Posted at 4:37 p.m.
Since this tragic event, local law enforcement has been the subject of intense controversy, in particular because more than a dozen agents waited for more than an hour outside the classrooms where entrenched the shooter, while children were dying there.
After firing school district police chief Pete Arredondo in August, the board has this time decided to suspend indefinitely all of the officers who work under its aegis to keep public schools safe. of Uvalde.
“Given recent developments […] the district has made the decision to suspend all activities” of this small number of officers, “for an indefinite period,” according to a statement.
These employees “will fulfill other roles in the district”, specifies the document.
According to the district, a thorough analysis of the police response to the attack is still ongoing.
The council “has asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide additional officers” to ensure the security of establishments and extracurricular activities, adds the press release, which assures that “the safety of staff and students will not be compromised during this transition. »
Nearly 400 officers from various departments intervened in Robb Elementary School on May 24, but between the arrival of the first police officers and the death of the killer, 73 minutes elapsed, an “unacceptable” delay according to a commission of Texas parliamentary inquiry, the conclusions of which were revealed in mid-July.
His report points to a “chaotic” situation, an absence of command and “apathetic” police, while desperate children trapped in the building called for help from the emergency services.
Following the Uvalde massacre, as well as other killings that shocked the country, the US Congress passed legislation in late June establishing new gun restrictions, the largest in nearly 30 years, but well below what President Joe Biden wanted.