Outrage rocked the city of Uvalde again on Thursday when it was revealed that a school police officer hired after the Robb Elementary massacre was not only on campus as a Texas state agent during the tragedy in May, but was also being investigated. for her to proceed while an armed individual killed 19 students and two teachers.
CNN was the first news outlet to report Wednesday night on the hiring of agent Crimson Elizondo. Less than 24 hours later, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) fired Elizondo on Thursday due to immediate and increasing pushback by families of fourth-grade victims, as well as Texas lawmakers.
Either way, the abrupt dismissal did little to quell Uvalde’s anger. The families asked for a response as to why the school district’s small police force hired one of the nearly 400 officers who came to campus on May 24 for the massacre in the first place, but waited over an hour to deal. the subject armed with an AR-15 type rifle.
One fact that increased some parents’ disbelief was that Elizondo, according to files released by the Texas Department of Public Security, is among at least seven police officers who attended school and were internally investigated for their behavior during one of the worst homicides carried out with a firearm in a classroom in the history of the United States.
“They hired her knowingly,” tweeted Brett Cross, whose 10-year-old son Uziyah Garcia was one of the victims.
Elizondo did not immediately respond to a voice message or a Facebook message asking for a comment on the matter.
Documents show that after the Uvalde School District contacted the Public Security Department in July while it was reviewing Elizondo’s background, the agency sent a letter claiming he was under internal investigation due to allegations that the his behavior was “incompatible with his training and the demands of the Department.”
In the statement announcing the dismissal on Thursday, Uvalde school officials did not explain their decision to hire Elizondo.
“We offer our sincere apologies to the families of the victims and the wider Uvalde community for the pain this revelation has caused,” the statement read.
Elizondo announced his resignation as Texas state agent on August 17 and his last day at DSP was August 29, said Travis Considine, a spokesman for that agency.
According to CNN, Elizondo is heard in the camera video saying to other Robb Elementary officers: “If my son had been there, I wouldn’t have been out. I assure you.”
Elizondo’s job profile was posted on the Uvalde School District website Thursday morning, but was removed in the afternoon.
Hours before the dismissal, several families gathered outside the school district administrative office to protest the hiring.
“We are shocked and angry at the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s decision to hire Agent Crimson Elizondo. Hiring him questions the credibility and completeness of the district’s Human Resources unit and its background screening practices, ”according to a statement from some of the victims’ families. “And it confirms what we have always said: UCISD was not and does not have the task of guaranteeing the safety of our children at school”.
In July, a damning report cited “appallingly wrong decisions” by officers who waited over an hour to face the 18-year-old striker. The school’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August.
State Senator Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, said hiring Elizondo “was a slap in the face of this community.”
“A Public Security Department officer was on the scene two minutes after the attacker began (the attack began) and did not adhere to the training, protocol and duty he was sworn in,” he added. “People’s children died because the DSP agents didn’t do their job.”
A school district spokesman did not respond to messages Thursday for comment.
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Bleiberg reported from Dallas. Associated Press writer Jill Zeman Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas contributed to this report.
