Uvalde School District Suspends Entire Police Force

A Texas school district at the center of one of the worst school shootings in history has suspended its entire police force in the wake of the multiple recorded failures to respond to the active shooter situation last year.

The district has requested assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety in placing more troopers at their disposal as they undergo a major change with their own police department.

Via ABC News:

Lt. Miguel Hernandez, who was tasked with leading the department in the fallout from the attack, and Ken Mueller, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District's director of student services, were placed on administrative leave. Mueller elected to retire, according to the school district.

The school district's move comes one day after the firing of Crimson Elizondo, an officer who was hired by Uvalde's school district despite being under investigation for her conduct as a DPS trooper during the massacre, which claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.

The school district's police chief, Pete Arredondo, was fired in August. Lt. Miguel Hernandez, who was in charge of leading the department in the fallout from the attack, and Ken Mueller, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District's director of student services, were placed on administrative leave. According to the school district, Mueller elected to retire, instead.

The police force has been under heavy criticism since a gunman went into the school and was left alone in classrooms with students for more than an hour. Lack of action from law enforcement resulted in 21 deaths, 19 of which were children.

The Uvalde shooting led to major backlash across the country, including a major bipartisan gun bill in Congress. Locally, it led to law enforcement and the Lafayette Parish School System revamping their response procedures, which have been put to the test multiple times this week.