Uvalde Cops Cleared of Wrongdoing in Independent Report Acknowledging ‘Many Failures’

An independent report ordered by the Uvalde City Council found “many failures” in its police department’s response to the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School in May 2022, but cleared its officers of misconduct, a conclusion that stunned and angered the families of victims present at the council’s Thursday meeting. “How do you live with yourselves? Shame on y’all,” said Veronica Mata, the mother of 10-year-old victim Tess Mata, according to ABC News. “You said they did it in good faith. You call that good faith? They stood there 77 minutes and waited after they got call after call.” Another person in the room, the Associated Press reported, yelled: “Cowards!” The investigation was led by Jesse Prado, a retired Austin police detective, who spoke at the Thursday meeting. He told the city council that the local prosecutor had made it difficult for him to gather evidence in the inquiry. “The district attorney did not allow me to receive a copy of information regarding this case from other sources, other agencies,” Prado said, according to CNN. The release of the report’s findings comes months after the Department of Justice’s own investigators identified “cascading failures” in the law enforcement response to the shooting, which killed 19 children and two staff members.