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Residents of Uvalde, Texas are losing their patience as local government officials say they have nothing to share about any ongoing investigations into the school massacre that shook their town and the nation.
Parents are seeking answers to questions about the mass shooting, including why the police largely refused to enter the building and why no red flags were raised about the gunman’s disturbing behavior.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told parents Thursday that he had nothing to share with them at that time. He emphasized that he was not “trying to hide anything” from the victims’ parents.
“You’re in charge of this city!” a parent heckled after McLaughlin failed to provide information, according to ABC News.
FILE – Uvalde residents demand school police chief Pete Arredondo be fired after the tragic shooting that left 19 of the town’s children, and two adults, dead.
(Fox News Digital)
Chief of Police Pete Arredondo did not show up to the meeting, prompting acute backlash from those seeking answers and transparency on the investigation.
Arredondo, the incident commander at Robb Elementary School when 19 children and two adults were killed last month, has been placed on administrative leave, Uvalde Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell announced Wednesday.
Arredondo has been sharply criticized by several people, including Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw and parents in the Uvalde community, for his response to last month’s shooting.
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Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo speaks at a press conference following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, U.S., May 24, 2022.
(Mikala Compton/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS)
Texas officials holding a special Senate hearing on the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting recognized how, despite the 18-year-old gunman’s prior “abhorrent behavior” and animal abuse being common knowledge in the small town of just 17,000 people, it was never reported to law enforcement.
McCraw noted how the revelations from at least half a dozen individuals of Salvador Ramos’ concerning behavior happened after the shooting and were never reported to law enforcement beforehand.
He also said that through interviews, many residents observed seeing Ramos carrying a bag of dead cats. Despite what Texas state Sen. Paul Bettencourt described as such “animal abuse” and “abhorrent behavior,” there was no known record of it from either the school district or law enforcement before the shooting.
Fox News’ Paul Best contributed to this report.
