In Uvalde, two years after the tragedy, another leadership shakeup is underway.
This week, the recently elected mayor stepped down. In March, the chief of the Uvalde Police Department announced he would resign.
Tuesday, the family members of some of the 19 students and 2 teachers gunned down in their classroom were inside city hall demanding answers.
During a public comment period, one by one, loved ones begged city leaders to vote to deny a locally commissioned report released last month that cleared officers of any wrongdoing in their response to the 2022 school shooting.
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Although that was not on the agenda at Tuesday’s meeting, several parents and family members addressed it with council members in a continued fight.
Previously, the Department of Justice found what it called “cascading failures,” including the fact officers waited 77 minutes to enter the classrooms where the shooting took place, even as children called 911.
Meanwhile, the local report recommended that the responding officers be exonerated.
It’s been met with intense criticism from families.
Also Tuesday, KSAT reported that state law enforcement records it obtained show the man who conducted that report, Jesse Prado, had no active shooter training.
It also came a day after Mayor Cody Smith resigned just five months after winning a specially-called election.
Parents like Brett Cross had been meeting with Smith to encourage a vote on the report.
Cross said the resignation is yet another step back in getting justice for their children.
“I just I don't understand, you know, because all of these people are mothers and fathers, all the city council, even these cops. You know, they're parents and I wish they would just put themselves in our shoes just for a few minutes just to see so that maybe they would do the right thing,” said Cross.
The mayor’s resignation was abrupt, simply citing medical issues.
Last month, Uvalde’s police chief resigned just days after that city-sanctioned report was released.
