Uvalde victim family members demand probe details: ‘Nobody’s giving us any answers’
Family members of the victims of the May 24 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, confronted their mayor at a city council meeting on Thursday, calling for details on an ongoing investigation of the incident.
“Nobody’s giving us any answers. It’s been over a month, you have no idea how frustrating that is. We’re sitting here, just listening to empty words,” said the sister of Irma Garcia, one of the two teachers killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School alongside 19 fourth graders.
Mayor Dan McLaughlin told family members and other members of the Uvalde community that he was unable to share details due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, which is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Texas Rangers, a section of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee asked officials last month to keep information confidential until the probe is completed.
The families of shooting victims and survivors criticized McLaughlin for his statement and urged officials to work harder to obtain information that can be shared with the public.
“Show your face. Answer our questions, now,” said Tina Quintanilla-Taylor, the mother of a survivor of the shooting, directed at those in charge of the investigation.
Meeting attendees considered recalling Busbee because of her withholding of information on the investigation, displaying frustration toward all the officials involved with the probe.
McLaughlin offered to resign in response to criticism at the meeting, saying: “I’m not a quitter. But if this community feels like I haven’t done a good job as mayor and they want me to resign, I’d be happy to.”
Notably absent from the meeting was school district police chief and City Council member Pete Arredondo, who has been criticized for the police response to the shooting.