AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas state senator representing Uvalde sued the Texas Department of Public Safety Wednesday for refusing to disclose records related to the May 24 Robb Elementary School shooting.
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, filed the suit in Travis County, accusing DPS of covering up details about police response to the shooting and violating the Texas Public Information Act for not responding to a request his office filed on May 31.
“In the wake of this massacre, the State of Texas has completely failed to provide the community of Uvalde with truthful answers,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
“Weeks have come and gone,” Gutierrez continued, “and yet families who lost their children have not been told by their government the basic information about who was on site as their children bled, what tools were at their disposal to stop the gunman, and exactly why they decided to wait instead of act.”
There has been a general lockdown of information related to the shooting in response to numerous requests for information through the Texas Public Information Act. News agencies across Texas, including The Dallas Morning News, have faced pushback from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the city of Uvalde in relation to the shooting, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
Public disclosure of information has come out in hearings and press conferences that has created a steady drip of new and troubling details that paint a picture of a botched police response to an active shooter situation.
For instance, on Tuesday, DPS Director Steven McCraw confirmed to a Texas Senate committee that a classroom police never attempted to open an unlocked door to a classroom where the 18-year-old gunman had hauled up with students. Instead police waited more than 70 minutes for reinforcements and a master key before entering the classroom and killing the shooter.
