The families of 19 victims of the school massacre in UvaldeTexas, announced a lawsuit Wednesday against the nearly 100 state troopers who were part of the botched police response.
In a statement, the families added that they reached an agreement to receive $2 million from the municipality, under which municipal leaders promised higher standards and better training for local police.
The announcement comes two days before the second anniversary of one of the deadliest school massacres in American history. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed on May 24, 2022, when a teenager burst into their classroom at Robb Elementary School and started shooting.
The lawsuit is the latest of many demanding accountability for the police response. More than 370 federal, state and local agents gathered at the scene, but waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the shooter.
It is the first lawsuit filed after the Justice Department released a report in January that cataloged “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership and technological problems on the day of the massacre.
The lawsuit says the police officers failed to comply with their active shooter training and their responsibility to deal with it, even though the students and teachers inside were following their protocols for such cases, turning off the lights, locking the doors and remaining silent.
“The protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them totally dependent on law enforcement agencies to respond quickly and effectively,” the families and their lawyers say in a statement.
Terrified students inside the classroom called 911 as distraught parents begged officers, some of whom could hear gunshots on the other side of the wall, to come inside. A tactical team of police officers eventually entered the classroom and killed the shooter.
“The police inaction 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 attorneys. “Texas State Police had the resources, training and firepower to respond appropriately, and they ignored it all and failed at every level. These families have not only the right but also the responsibility to demand justice.”
A criminal investigation into the police response remains ongoing, led by the office of Uvalde Attorney General Christina Mitchell. A grand jury was convened this year, and some law enforcement officials have already been called to testify.
The lawsuit against 92 Texas Department of Public Safety officers and troopers also targets the Uvalde School District, the school’s former principal, Mandy Gutierrez, and former Uvalde school police chief Peter Arredondo.
Another lawsuit filed in December 2022 – against local and state police, the municipality and other school and law enforcement agencies – seeks at least $27 billion in compensation. At least two other lawsuits have been filed against Daniel Defense, the Georgia-based gun manufacturer that made the AR-style weapon used by the shooter.
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