If, like most of America, you’ve moved on and haven’t been paying attention to the continued fallout from the manifold failures at Robb Elementary School that made the Uvalde school shooting far worse than it should have been, developments there continue to unfold, surprising even the most cynical among us.
Yesterday, the Uvalde School District police department fired one if its new hires. After the district police force hired former Texas State Trooper Crimson Elizondo, CNN reported that she was not only one of the 91 DPS cops on the scene the day of the shooting, but she was one of the first to arrive. In other words, she’s among those who stood around the longest, failing to act as children and teachers were being shot and the wounded bled out.
The Uvalde school police had hired an officer who was one of seven DPS cops currently under investigation for their conspicuous lack of action on the day of the massacre.
As CNN reported . . .
Following this CNN report, the school district issued a statement announcing her termination effective Thursday.
“We are deeply distressed by the information that was disclosed yesterday evening concerning one of our recently hired employees, Crimson Elizondo,” the statement from the district said. “We sincerely apologize to the victim’s families and the greater Uvalde community for the pain that this revelation has caused. Ms. Elizondo’s statement in the audio is not consistent with the District’s expectations.”
“Regarding the remaining UCISD Police Department employees, we continue to make personnel decisions based on verifiable information. An independent investigation is underway to evaluate the actions of the current officers on May 24, 2022. Additionally, we are awaiting results of a management and organizational review of the UCISD Police Department that will aid the district in taking informed actions to further ensure the safety and security of our schools,” the statement added.
Just to be clear about what the Uvalde school police did, they hired someone to protect the district’s children who was likely one of those most at fault for her unwillingness to act and protect those children in May. That kind of decision-making was apparently all district officials needed to know about what’s left of its police force after earlier firing its now-former chief.
Today, the district put the top two remaining officers on paid leave and reassigned the rest of the district’s police force. In effect, they’ve dissolved the entire Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police department.
From the Texas Tribune . . .
Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Ken Mueller were placed on leave, and other officers employed with the department will fill other roles in the district, according to a Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District press release issued Friday. Mueller decided to retire, the release said.
The district said decisions regarding the future of the department had been pending the results of two investigations, but it suspended the department’s activities Friday as a result of the new concerns.
Those concerns no doubt included the utterly clueless decision-making process that led to its hiring one of the very people thought to be most at fault for her unwillingness to act as 19 students and two teachers were being murdered.
The Uvalde school district obviously still has a very long way to go. But remember, the killer’s gun was the real culprit here.
