A U.S. congressman is calling for the FBI to investigate law enforcement’s response to the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers earlier this week.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray citing conflicting reports given by police about the timeline of events of the shooting and officers’ interactions with the shooter.
“The people of Uvalde, of Texas, and of the nation deserve an accurate account of what transpired,” Castro wrote.
The law enforcement response to the massacre is under investigation. Witnesses and neighbors have contested officials’ statements about the events, while law enforcement officials have revised parts of their accounts. Officials have sought to assure the public that they responded immediately to the shooting as complaints surfaced about a delay in taking action and entering the school.
Castro said answers were needed about conflicting accounts: “Whether the school security officer and the gunman exchanged fire outside the school,” and, “How long law enforcement officers were in adjoining classrooms while the gunman barricaded himself in a classroom with students and teachers.”
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIMS LIST: Families mourn those lost in the Texas school shooting
What we know about the 21 victims
Families and community members gathered Thursday to mourn the 19 children and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School in Tuesday’s massacre as more of the victims’ identities became known.
At a park in Uvalde, crosses bearing the names of the slain students and teachers were erected.
The two teachers who were killed, Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, co-taught their fourth graders and were called hailed as heroes for protecting students. Garcia’s husband, Joe Garcia, laid flowers at his wife’s memorial site, but died suddenly later Thursday, leaving their four children with two funerals to plan.
The children who were killed included 10-year-old Xavier Javier Lopez, who loved to crack jokes and dance cumbia with his family, his mother Felicha Martinez told The Washington Post.
Layla Salazar, 10, was a fast runner who won ribbons at the school’s field day and sang along to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses on the way to school each morning, her dad Vincent Salazar said.
Jayce Luevanos, 10, woke up every morning and made his grandparents a pot of coffee, his grandfather Carmelo Quiroz said. He was happy and loved, Quiroz said. “He was our baby.” Read more.
NRA convention starts Friday as lobbyists deflect blame for massacre
The National Rifle Association begins its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun-rights lobbying group are gearing up to “reflect on” – and deflect any blame for – the deadly shooting earlier this week in Uvalde, Texas.
Former President Donald Trump and other leading Republicans are scheduled to address the three-day firearms marketing and advocacy event, which is expected to draw protesters fed up with gun violence.
Some scheduled speakers and performers have backed out, including two Texas lawmakers and “American Pie” singer Don McLean, who said “it would be disrespectful” to go ahead with his act in the aftermath of the country’s latest mass shooting.
While President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress have renewed calls for stricter gun laws, NRA board member Phil Journey said the focus should be on better mental health care and trying to prevent gun violence. He said he wouldn’t support banning or limiting access to firearms.
The NRA said in an online statement that people attending the gun show will “reflect on” the Uvalde school shooting, “pray for the victims, recognize our patriotic members, and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure.”
US surgeon general says mass shootings are a public health crisis
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas shooting that incidents of gun violence “traumatize an entire nation.”
In an interview with USA TODAY on Thursday, Murthy said that gun violence is a public health crisis in the country, and that each incident retraumatizes people who have already survived shootings or who have been affected by the news of them.
“Yesterday, when I dropped my son and daughter off at school, the day after this horrific shooting, there was a part of me which didn’t want to send them, either. I hugged them close and didn’t want to let go when I was at the drop-off line. And I wasn’t alone,” he said.
Lawmakers have a moral obligation to “make sure that this time is different” and tell their constituents how they plan to address gun violence, Murthy said.
“I believe it’s a responsibility of our elected leaders to tell their constituents, tell the American people what their plan is to address gun violence in America. And for anyone who doubted gun violence is a public health crisis, the tragedy in Texas was a clear reminder that it continues to be one.”
-Bill Keveney
BIDENS TO VISIT: President and first lady will seek to comfort families of Uvalde school shooting victims
Most victims reportedly shot in first minutes of carnage
Most if not all of the victims were shot within the first minutes after the gunman arrived at the school, according to Texas law enforcement officials.
Victor Escalon, South Texas regional director of the Department of Public Safety, said at a Thursday news conference that reports of a school district police officer confronting the suspect were inaccurate.
“He walked in unobstructed initially,” Escalon said. According to the information police have, the suspect did not respond to negotiation, Escalon said. He said the majority of the gunfire — numerous rounds — were fired in the first minutes the gunman was inside the school.
Within four minutes, police were inside the school, Escalon said. But according to officials, it wasn’t until “approximately an hour later” when U.S. Border Control tactical teams arrived and killed the suspect.
-Celina Tebor
Contributing: The Associated Press