Placeholder while loading article actions
UVALDE, Tex. – When there was a massacre inside an elementary school here last week, a possible negotiator deployed at a funeral home across the street frantically tried to contact the gunman via cell phone, said Ubalde Mayor Don McLaughlin on Wednesday.
In an interview with The Washington Post, McLaughlin (R) said he rushed to Hillcrest Funeral Home about 15 minutes after “the first call” that reported that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos had crashed his truck nearby. He was found near an official he only identified as “the negotiator,” while frightened parents gathered outside the school and police waited more than an hour to storm the classroom.
“His main goal was to get that person to talk on the phone,” McLaughlin said in the interview, which was also conducted by Telemundo San Antonio. “They tried all the numbers they found,” but the gunman did not pick up the phone.
McLaughlin offered few new details about the police response to the mass shooting, which is under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety and which state officials have described contradictorily over the past 10 days.
Officials change the account of how the shooter entered, saying the teacher did not open the door
He said he did not believe the negotiator knew there were children by calling 911 and asking police to save them while the gunman was in the classroom. The mayor said he was not aware of these calls, nor did he hear shots from inside the school across the street.
The gunman was killed by a phalanx law enforcement officers, including three officers from the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, Border Patrol search, trauma and rescue agent and at least one sheriff’s deputy, The Post has previously reported. McLaughlin said he was told the group also included at least one officer from the Uvalde Police Department and one from the six-officer school police force.
McLaughlin said he had not contacted Pete Arredondo, the assaulted head of the Uvalde School District Police Department, who acted as commander of the incident during the shooting and was criticized for not having sent agents before.
Arredondo has not publicly commented on the incident, and told CNN on Wednesday that he would do so after more time had passed and the victims of the massacre were buried.
Pete Arredondo spent years preparing for a school shooting. Then it happened.
McLaughlin, who wears a treadmill or cane and is said to be a “little potato” in politics, has not been shy in speaking out against either of Texas’ top politicians. parties.
At the recent Texas gubernatorial election, he chose not to support Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, calling him a “fraud” because of his focus on border and immigration. And he has appeared in “Tucker Carlson Tonight” several times to criticize the release of migrants by the Border Patrol in the streets of Uvalde and regret that he can not receive a call from the two Republican senators of the state, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.
Last week, following the shooting, he named Texas Gov. candidate Beto O’Rourke a “sick son of a b —-” to confront Abbott over gun control during a conference of press.
During Wednesday’s interview, however, McLaughlin took a much more conciliatory tone and called for a compromise between Republicans and Democrats to find a set of laws that “work for everyone.”
“Both of us [parties] to have an attitude of ‘It’s my way or the highway,’ “he said. “It simply came to our notice then. We chose them to go up there and represent the American people, and that means you sit at a table and sit and negotiate. “
An example of commitment? Background checks for gun purchases, he said.
“Why should any of us be afraid to expand on background checks? There’s nothing wrong with that, I have nothing to hide,” said McLaughlin, who has also been working hard to build a hospital for some time. psychiatric in Uvalde.
Guns are found on all GOP ads and on social media, prompting some criticism
Tensions have been rising between local and state law enforcement in Uvalde, as questions about changing public accounts of what happened last Tuesday and who is responsible for the response of law enforcement are growing. ‘order.
Last week, Abbott said he was “tricked” by police authorities into the series of events that took place.
“The information they gave me was, in part, inaccurate, and I’m absolutely free about it,” he said, sitting next to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) and McLaughlin.
But McLaughlin refuted those comments Monday, saying in a statement that local law enforcement did not “deceive anyone.” He reiterated this point in the interview, saying that “local authorities have not lied to anyone.”
“The briefing that the governor and the lieutenant governor and everyone else in this room [had] … was given by the DPS, not by local law enforcement, “McLaughlin said.
“They’ve done three press conferences,” he added. “At the three press conferences, something has changed.”
McLaughlin said he has not “lost confidence” in the Department of Homeland Security and the Texas Rangers. Relatives of the 21 people who were killed “need answers,” he said. “And we want to make sure they get those answers.”
On Wednesday, Abbott called on state lawmakers to convene a couple of “special legislative committees” to address issues of school safety and mass violence. During last week’s statements to the National Rifle Association, the governor ruled out new arms restrictions in response to the massacre.
In his letter to Patrick, who chairs the Senate, and House Speaker Dade Phelan (R), Abbott called for both houses to form committees to explore five issues: school safety; mental health; Social media; police training; and security of firearms.
“As leaders, we need to come together right now to offer solutions to protect all jeans,” Abbott said in his letter.
Patrick announced Wednesday afternoon the formation of the Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans, which will hold a hearing on or after June 23. He appointed eight Republicans and three Democrats to the committee. Notably absent from the list was Senator Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Uvalde and who has openly spoken out about the need for arms restrictions.
Uvalde mourns the teacher who died protecting the children, and the husband who died two days later
Abbott also announced new instructions for the Texas School Safety Center, a research center focused on campus safety and security that is legally responsible for auditing school safety processes and establishing best practices.
According to a letter from Abbott to education officials, the governor said the San Marcos-based security center should begin conducting “random intrusion detection audits,” designed to find weaknesses in the security systems of the United States. campus.
Uvalde school officials said Wednesday they are working to identify security improvements that may be needed on the city’s school campuses. In addition, officials said Robb’s campus would not reopen as a result of the tragedy. Students will be enrolled elsewhere.
McLaughlin said he could not imagine the school returning to normal operations.
“I hope we knock it to the ground,” he said. “I would never expect a teacher, a student, anyone to walk into that building again.”
John Wagner in Washington and Eva Ruth in Austin contributed to this report.