Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin is expressing his doubts in the Texas Department of Public Safety’s ongoing investigation into the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School.
In an interview withCNNon Tuesday, McLaughlin said he fears foul play, saying, “I’m not confident, 100%, in DPS because I think it’s a cover-up.”
He went on to say that while he trusted DPS staffers, he no longer believed in upper management, explaining that he thinks DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw is “covering up for maybe his agencies.”
“What do they say? It’s always hard when you tell a lie, you have to keep telling a lie,” McLaughlin said, pointing to the shifting stories that have emerged about what happened on the day of the shooting. “I’m not saying he’s lying, maybe he was misled with the information he got.
“Your story can’t change on something this horrific three times, four times, in three days,” McLaughlin added. “At this point, I don’t know what to believe and what not to believe.”
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.Eric Gay/AP/Shutterstock
DPS has been tasked with looking into why 20 armed officerswaited in a hallwayfor over an hour before engaging the shooter inside a locked classroom. The gunman wound upkilling 19 children and two teachersthat day, and injuring others.
In the wake of the tragedy, Col. McCraw has solely blamed school police chiefPedro “Pete” Arredondo— said to be one of the first officers to respond to the scene — for the delay, calling the police’s response an “abject failure.” Arredondo has sinceresigned from the Uvalde city counciland has beenplaced on administrative leavefrom his job.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin visits the memorial for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting.Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images
But McLaughiln told CNN that blame should go wider, as personnel from multiple law enforcement agencies were on the scene and all held back.
“When have you ever seen a federal or a state law enforcement officer take their cues from local law enforcement?” McLaughlin asked.
“Every agency in that hallway is gonna have to share the blame,” he said, later emphasizing, “if this is a failure, it’s a failure on everybody’s part.”
Pete Arredondo.Austin American-Statesman-USA Today Network/Sipa USA
DPS press secretary Ericka Beltran did tell CNN, “The Texas Department of Public Safety is committed to working with multiple law enforcement agencies to get the answers we all seek.”
Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde according toThe Texas Tribune, shared the letter onTwitterTuesday.
A memorial for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting.CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The letter explained that the Governor’s Public Safety Office made an initial investment of $5 million. They note that Mitchell Busbee was appointed to “oversee victim’s compensation in addition to other services.”
Additionally, the letter outlined some of the “troubling reports” they have received about the UTRC and Mitchell Busbee, “including the failure to timely deliver victim’s compensation resources to those in need.”
They write that one family “was in danger of having their power cut off in their home at the same time they were praying and caring for their daughter in the hospital.” The two politicians said “other families have been offered a meager bereavement benefit for only two-weeks of pay.”
“This, simply, is insufficient,” the letter read.
In conclusion, Gutierrez and McLaughlin asked that Mitchell Busbee is removed from her position heading the UTRC and instead place the Texas Department of Emergency Management in charge.
“These victims deserve maximum compensation and they deserve it immediately,” the letter concluded.
source: people.com
