Uvalde school district suspends entire police department News
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Uvalde school district suspends entire police department

Uvalde, Texas, school district Friday suspended its police department, nearly five months after the mass shooting of an elementary school where 19 students and two teachers were killed.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s (UCISD) decision to suspend the police department was made in response to the current investigation into the mass shooting. Texas Police Chiefs Association and JPPI Investigations are investigating the delayed response by the police during the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary. 

In the release by UCISD, the district states:

As a result of the recent developments, Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Ken Mueller have been placed on administrative leave, and the District has made the decision to suspend all activities of the Uvalde CISD Police Department for a period of time.

The release also states that due to recent developments as a result of the investigation, the school district has “additional concerns with department operations.”

The district’s suspension of the police department comes after the firing of Crimson Elizondo, a state trooper who arrived on the scene within two minutes of receiving the call.

The Texas Department of Public Safety in July initiated an internal review into law enforcement’s response to the shooting. The US Department of Justice also investigated the police response time to the shooting.