Uvalde:365 is an ongoing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it is forged in the shadow of tragedy.
The Uvalde, Texas school district, still facing lingering criticism over the failings of its police department both during and since the May 24 elementary school massacre, announced Friday the suspension of all district police.
Hours later, Uvalde School District Superintendent Hal Harrell announced he was retiring. There was no timeline for Harrell’s retirement, but the transition will be discussed in a closed school board session Monday.
The district said it has asked for more Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to be stationed on campuses and at after-school activities amid the suspension of the police department, adding, “We are confident that the safety of staff and students will not will be compromised during this transition.”
The length of the school district police’s suspension is unclear.
An officer leaves Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022.
Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images
Lt. Miguel Hernandez, who was tasked with leading the department in the aftermath of the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, and Ken Mueller, UCISD’s director of student services, were placed on administrative leave.
Hernandez acknowledged in a law enforcement communication in August that he had received formal notification from DPS that an officer requesting Uvalde school police was under investigation for his response to Robb Elementary.
Mueller has decided to retire, according to the school district.
“The officials who are currently employed will be taking on other roles in the district,” the school district said. According to the district’s website, it includes four officers and a security guard.
The families of the victims, led by Brett Cross, guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, had held a 24-hour vigil outside the school district’s headquarters demanding change. The families are now praising the police department’s announcement on Friday.
Family members of Robb Elementary School victims and their supporters demonstrate at the Uvalde School District offices on September 29, 2022.
Kate Holland/ABC News
“They don’t know how to hire people, they don’t know how to vet officers,” Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter, Lexi, was killed at Robb Elementary, told ABC News. “They haven’t provided the proper training.”
Friday’s news was “what we’ve been asking for, it’s more than we’ve been asking for,” he said.
Kimberly Rubio, mother of slain Robb Elementary student Alexandria Aniyah Rubio, takes comfort after speaking as Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke and some of the family members of the children who lost their lives at Robb Elementary in Uvalde fan a press conference in Fountain Park. on Friday, September 30, 2022 in Edinburg, Texas.
Joel MartÃnez/The Monitor via AP
Gloria Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jackie, was killed, called the department’s suspension “bittersweet.”
“It’s a victory, a small victory,” he told ABC News. “We’re not done.”
The department’s suspension comes one day after the firing of Crimson Elizondo, the officer who was hired by the Uvalde school district despite being under investigation for his conduct as a DPS officer during the massacre.
Crimson Elizondo, a former Uvalde School District police officer and former Texas state trooper, appears in an undated official portrait.
Uvalde CISD Police Department
Elizondo was the first DPS member to enter Robb’s hallway after the shooter entered. Police did not bring their rifles or vests to school, according to the results of an internal DPS review that was detailed to ABC News.
As a result of a possible failure to follow standard procedures, the trooper was among seven DPS members whose conduct is now being investigated by the agency’s inspector general. All seven were suspended, but because Elizondo resigned from DPS to work in Uvalde schools, she was no longer subject to any internal discipline or sanctions. Your conduct, if found to be in violation of law or policy, will still be included in the DPS Inspector General’s final report.
The school district said in Friday’s statement that “decisions regarding” the school district’s police department are pending the results of investigations by the Texas Association of Chiefs of Police and private investigative firm JPPI Investigations. but “recent developments have uncovered additional concerns with the department’s operations.”
The results of the JPPI investigation “will inform future personnel decisions,” and the Texas Association of Chiefs of Police review “will guide the rebuilding of the department and the hiring of a new police chief,” the statement said.
The school district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August.
ABC News’ Patrick Linehan and Olivia Osteen contributed to this report.