by The Uvalde school district has suspended its entire police force following the mass shooting in the Texas city that saw 19 students and two teachers slaughtered by a gunman.
Officials have come under fire for the police department’s slow and chaotic response to the May shooting, where officers took more than an hour to enter a classroom and remove the gunman.
The school district announced the suspension Friday and said it has requested more Texas Department of Public Safety troopers be placed on campuses and at extracurricular activities.
“The District has made the decision to suspend all operations of the Uvalde CISD Police Department for a period of time. The officers currently employed will assume other roles in the district,” the statement from the district said.
“The District has requested the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide additional troopers for campus and extracurricular activities. We are confident that the safety of staff and students will not be compromised during this transition.”
The school district has not said how long the suspension will last.
The statement also said Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Ken Mueller were placed on administrative leave and that Mr. Mueller decided to retire.
The move comes a day after the firing of Officer Crimson Elizondo, who was hired by the school district despite being under investigation for her conduct as a trooper during the shooting.
The Texas Department of Public Safety officer arrived on the scene within two minutes of the gunman entering the building and was seen on video with his gun drawn, according to CNN.
A Texas House committee released a scathing report in July that criticized “systemic failures and extremely poor decision-making” by police and the school district.
In August the district fired Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who was one of the first law enforcement officers on the scene and who was widely criticized for his department’s response to the violence.
Mr. Arredondo later said he did not have his police radio with him and did not believe he was the incident commander at the scene.
Nearly 400 local, state and federal law enforcement officers rushed to Robb Elementary School where they waited to confront the 18-year-old gunman.
He was eventually shot and killed when a US Border Patrol tactical team entered the classroom where most of the victims had been killed.
