:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/4QARLYNE45B4HEGGDREOAK34UQ.jpg "The economic agreement between the city of Uvalde and the families of the children killed in the school shooting")
Two years after the Robb Elementary School massacre, the families of the 19 children killed and the two who survived the shooting agreed the city of Uvalde compensation of 2 million dollars. This is an agreement and not the consequence of a lawsuit.
Additionally, according to Univision, the families are negotiating another similar agreement with the city of Uvalde. The value has not been confirmed.
LOOK: What’s next in Trump’s criminal trial and when will the jury’s verdict be known?
On May 24, 2022, one of the deadliest school shootings in US historywhen Salvador Ramosan 18 year old young man burst into the school located in the state of Texas and I started shooting. He killed 19 students and two teachers, before being killed by police.
Through a statement published Wednesday, Verónica Luevanos, whose daughter Prison and his nephew Jayce were murdered at school, he recalled that This is the first monetary compensation they will receive for what happened.
“For two long years we were sick with pain and without any accountability on the part of the authorities and agents who allowed our families to be destroyed that day,” he said.
This agreement “reflects a first good faith effort on the part of the city of Uvalde to start rebuilding trust in the systems that failed to protect us,” he added.
Families indicated that The agreement with the city council had a limit of 2 million dollars because they did not want to bankrupt the city where they still reside. Funds to pay for the settlement will come from city insurance coverage.
“The last thing they want is to cause financial hardship to friends and neighbors in this community. It wasn’t their friends and neighbors who let them down,” he declared. Josh Koskoffone of the families’ lawyers, during a press conference in Uvalde on Wednesday.
The agreement reached also involves improving police training for similar cases and the establishment of May 24th as Memorial Day to the tragedy. Also They will erect a monument of tribute and will support psychological assistance for family members and survivors.
In turn, the city of Uvalde released a statement in which he stated that The agreement will help the community “heal and recover.”
“We are eternally grateful to the families of the victims for working with us over the past year to cultivate a community-wide healing environment that honors the lives and memories of those we have tragically lost. May 24th is the worst tragedy in our community“, said the city.
On Wednesday it was also announced that the families of the 19 children filed a request a US$500 million federal lawsuit against 92 state police Texas Department of Public Safety who were part of the failed police response to the shooting.
The day of slaughtermore than 370 federal, state and municipal agents arrived at the Robb Elementary Schoolbut They waited 77 minutes before confronting the shooter, something that is widely questioned by families, public opinion and the authorities themselves.
This is the first lawsuit filed against the police after the Justice Department released a 400-page report in January in which it classified “cascading failures” the training, communication, leadership and technological problems involved in the performance of security forces on the day of the massacre, according to the AP agency. This department did not establish criminal responsibilities.
It is pointed out that state troopers didn’t apply what they learned in their active shooter training They did not even confront the attacker, although students and teachers inside the school followed specific protocols for this type of case, turning off the lights, locking the doors and remaining silent.
“The protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them completely dependent on the authorities to respond quickly and effectively,” said the families and their lawyers in a statement.
AP recalled that Terrified students inside the attacked classroom called 911, as distraught parents pleaded with police officers — some of whom could hear gunshots as they waited in the hallways — to come inside. A tactical team of police officers eventually entered the classroom and killed the shooter.
“The inaction of the police that day was a complete and utter betrayal of these families and the sons, daughters and mothers they lost,” said Erin Rogiers, one of the families’ lawyers. “The State Police of Texas they had the resources, training and weapons to respond appropriately, and they ignored everything and failed at every level. These families not only have the right, but also the responsibility to demand justice.”He continued.
The district attorney of UvaldeChristina Mitchell, is leading a criminal investigation into the police response.
The case against the police also highlights Uvalde School District; the school’s former principal, Mandy Gutiérrez; and former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo.
The AP agency recalled that another lawsuit filed in December 2022 against local and state police, the municipality and other school and police bodies, asks for at least US$27 billion in compensation.
At least two other lawsuits were filed against Daniel Defensethe weapons manufacturer based in Georgia who manufactured the AR-15 type rifle used by the shooter.
The 400-page U.S. Department of Justice report describes the police response as a “failure”.
“The authorities’ response at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022 – and the authorities’ response in the hours and days that followed – it was a failure. As a result of failed leadership, training and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers – many of whom had been shot – were left trapped in a room with an armed attacker for more than an hour while law enforcement remained outside,” the report states.
The document states that when there is an active shooter, Law enforcement must “immediately defuse the matter.” and that “everything else, including the safety of officers, will be subordinate to that objective.” But that didn’t happen in Uvalde.
Uvalde Police waited and treated the attack as an entrenchment situationAccording to the report.
“The most significant failure was that responding officers should have immediately recognized the incident as an active shooter situation,” the report states.
It also indicates that there were delays due to communication problems and other simple incidents, such as closed doors at the school.
“Inaccurate information (…) shared on the radio” led the agents to believe that the shooter had already been killedso they halted their efforts, according to the report.
Three minutes after the perpetrator opened fire, the first police officers arrived. and they went to a classroom, but left after being hit by shrapnel from gunfire.
The document describes that 48 minutes after the shooter entered the school, and after four additional shots were fired, officers drove toward the sound of gunfire. “outside the classroom doors, but they didn’t go in.”
Many of the accusations regarding the lack of police response fell on Pete Arredondo, former Uvalde high school police chiefthat he was “the de facto commander on site on the day of the incident”.
“He failed to provide adequate leadership, command and control,” the report said. He adds that his “failures may have been influenced by deficiencies in policy and training.”
One of Arredondo’s mistakes was don’t charge the radio laptop and having to communicate with his team verbally or via cell phone, according to the report.
They passed 77 minutes so that the police were finally able to neutralize the shooter.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
