Uvalde victims’ families meet with DOJ prior to release of report on school shooting response

The Justice Department undertook the review when former Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin asked them to step in after state officials provided contradictory accounts about what happened that day.

The families of those killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas met with the Justice Department Wednesday in advance of the release of a report about the response to the mass shooting.

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Attorney General Merrick Garland and other Justice Department officials met with the parents of those killed and survivors of the May 24, 2022, massacre that took the lives of 19 students and two teachers.

The Justice Department undertook the review when former Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin asked them to step in after state officials provided contradictory accounts about what happened that day, The Associated Press reported.

The 500-page report is to be released on Thursday.

According to one person who was in the meeting, the Justice Department officials explained how the review was conducted, but the families were not told specifics from the 500-page report.

The report is expected to discuss major failures in the response by police to

stop an 18-year-old gunman from firing a rifle inside two fourth-grade classrooms in an incident that lasted 77 minutes.

The gunman was killed when a group of six officers, including members of a U.S. Border Patrol tactical team, breached a classroom door and shot him.

Federal officials “came through and did what was right,” Brett Cross told The Washington Post. Cross is the uncle and guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, who was killed in the attack.

“We were treated with some dignity and some respect because we do not get that here.”

The federal review is separate from the criminal investigation undertaken by Texas Rangers that is being handled by the local district attorney for possible charges, the Post reported.

A 2022 Post, Texas Tribune and ProPublica joint investigation found that the botched local law enforcement response undermined the chances of survival for some victims. According to the investigation, confusing lines of authority and lack of communication hampered medical first responders trying to reach victims.


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