FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas House committee on Thursday will hold an investigative hearing to learn more about the mass shooting at an Uvalde elementary school where two teachers and 19 students were killed.
The committee, made up of two lawmakers and former Texas Supreme Court Justice and former attorney general candidate Eva Guzman, will meet in executive session, outside of the public, to examine witnesses due to the “quasi-judicial nature” of the committee’s work.
The committee will interview members of the Texas Department of Public Safety and review physical evidence, Chair Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican, said in a Wednesday statement. He did not elaborate.
The committee’s meeting comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on June 1 asked House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to form committees to respond to the shooting. Patrick announced the Senate Special Committee to Protect All Texans, whose members include North Texas lawmakers Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Granbury Republican, and Sen. Royce West, a Dallas Democrat.
Phelan on Friday established the Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting, whose third member is Vice Chair Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat.
The committee has subpoena power and is authorized to take depositions and initiate discovery, according to a news release from Phelan’s office. They are tasked with “collecting and analyzing evidence from law enforcement, making comprehensive findings, and reporting its conclusions as soon as possible to help inform the work of the House,” the release reads.
In the days since the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School, there has been misinformation and conflicting accounts of what happened from officials.
“The fact we still do not have an accurate picture of what exactly happened in Uvalde is an outrage,” Phelan said in a statement. “Every day, we receive new information that conflicts with previous reports, making it not only difficult for authorities to figure out next steps, but for the grieving families of the victims to receive closure. I established this investigative committee for the dedicated purpose of gathering as much information and evidence as possible to help inform the House’s response to this tragedy and deliver desperately needed answers to the people of Uvalde and the State of Texas.”
Phelan also issued a series of charges to existing committees, including examining school safety measures and ways to prevent mass violence. Lawmakers representing areas where there have been mass shootings in recent years were added to the House’s Select Committee on Youth Health and Safety. Rep. Charlie Geren, whose district included White Settlement before the latest redistricting cycle, was among the lawmakers added to the committee.
Texas House rules generally require committees to meet in public, but they can meet in a closed session to examine witnesses or deliberate if they’re “considering an impeachment, an address, the punishment of a member of the house, or any other matter of a quasi-judicial nature.”
“The Robb Elementary School victims, their families, friends, community and all of Texas have the right to a full and truthful account of what happened in Uvalde,” Burrows said in a Friday statement.
