Uvalde elementary school principal placed on paid administrative leave

An attorney for the principal of the Uvalde, Texas, school that was the scene of a mass shooting in May confirmed that the official had been placed on paid administrative leave.

Attorney Ricardo Cedillo confirmed in a statement to The Hill that his client, Robb Elementary School Principal Mandy Gutierrez, was placed on paid leave by Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell on Monday.

The details regarding her suspension were not immediately clear.

Harrell announced last month that the Uvalde school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, would be placed on administrative leave, noting in a statement “the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigations.”

Arredondo and the law enforcement community were criticized for their response to the mass shooting in May that left 19 children and two adults dead at Robb Elementary School and later helped prompt national gun reform legislation.

A Texas House investigative committee offered a report earlier this month that detailed a series of errors that would factor into the response to the mass shooting, including a “void in leadership” over the lack of an incident commander.

“This was an essential duty he had assigned to himself in the plan mentioned above, yet it was not effectively performed by anyone,” the report said, referring to Arredondo.

“The void of leadership could have contributed to the loss of life as injured victims waited over an hour for help, and the attacker continued to sporadically fire his weapon,” it added.

The Hill has reached out to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for comment.