Uvalde School District Suspends Entire Police Force After May Shooting

The police department has drawn criticism for how it handled the fatal shooting at Robb Elementary School five months ago.

In light of the district's recent announcement, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department's operations have been put on hold for an unspecified "period of time" while it awaits the findings of an investigation into the shooting, which are anticipated to be made public later this month.

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According to the force's website, there were five officers and one security guard on the force.

The district added that it has put the director of student services and one officer on "administrative leave."

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In a statement issued, Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District said: “As a result of the recent developments, Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Ken Mueller have been placed on administrative leave, and the District has made the decision to suspend all activities of the Uvalde CISD Police Department for a period of time. Officers currently employed will fill other roles in the district. Ken Mueller has elected to retire.”

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The statement continued: “The District will continue to engage with the Texas Police Chiefs Association which is conducting a Management and Organisational Review. The results of this review will guide the rebuilding of the department and the hiring of a new Chief of Police. We expect to have a report later this month.”

"Also, as previously stated, JPPI is conducting an investigation into the UCISD police officers’ response to the May 24, 2022 tragedy. Results of the investigation will inform future personnel decisions.”

The decision to suspend the force has been praised by the families of the attack victims.

Amerie Jo Garza's grandma, Berlinda Arreola, spoke to ABC as follows: "This is the perfect example of why we didn't stop.”

"We are going to continue because there are other children that still go to school here. We have a lot of siblings of the deceased that go here," she said. "We want to make sure our kids are secure and protected. And we want to make sure that the people protecting them are willing to protect them."

Roland Gutierrez, the state senator for Uvalde in Texas, responded to the announcement by saying: “The Uvalde massacre shocked the conscience of our nation. This cannot be the end; we still need full transparency and justice from every agency and every level of government that failed us in Uvalde.”