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Uwalde, Texas – As the massacre took place at a primary school here last week, a potential negotiator stationed at a funeral home across the street tried frantically to contact the shooter via cell phone, Uwalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said Wednesday.
In an interview with The Washington Post, McLaughlin (R) said he rushed to Hillcrest Funeral Home about 15 minutes after the “first call” announcing that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos had crashed his pickup truck nearby. He found himself standing near an official he identified only as a “negotiator” as frightened parents gathered in front of the school and police waited for more than an hour to break into the classroom.
“His main goal was to try to get this man to call,” McLaughlin said in an interview also conducted by Telemundo San Antonio. “They tried every number they could find,” but the shooter didn’t pick up the phone.
McLaughlin suggested several other new details about the police response to the mass shooting, which is being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety and which government officials have described in contradictory ways over the past 10 days.
Officials change the account of how the shooter entered, saying the teacher did not support the door
He said he did not believe the negotiator knew there were children who called 911 and asked police to rescue them while the attacker was in the classroom. The mayor said he did not know about these calls, nor did he hear shots from inside the school across the street.
The gunman was killed by the phalanx of law enforcement officers, including three agents of a tactical unit of the border patrol, a Border patrol agent, traumatologist and rescue agent and at least one deputy sheriff, The post was announced earlier. McLaughlin said he had been told that the group also included at least one officer from the Uwalde Police Department and one of the police forces of the six-officer school system.
McLaughlin said he had not kept in touch with Pete Aredondo, the fierce head of the Uwalde school district police department, who served as commander of the incident during the shooting and was criticized for not sending officers earlier.
Aredondo did not speak publicly about the incident, telling CNN on Wednesday that he would do so after more time had passed and the victims of the massacre were buried.
Pete Aredondo spent years preparing for a mass shooting at school. Then it happened.
McLaughlin, who uses a walker or a cane and calls himself a “little potato” in politics, did not shy away from speaking out against high-ranking Texas politicians from both parties.
In the recent primary election for governor of Texas, he chose not to support incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, calling it a “fraud” in his approach to the border and immigration. And he appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight several times to criticize the release of migrants from the border patrol on the streets of Uwalde and to complain that he could not get a call back from the two Republican senators in the state of Ted Cruz and John Cornin.
Last week, after the shooting, he called Texas Gov. candidate Beto O’Rourke “sick son of a bitch —-” for speaking out against Abbott over gun control during a news conference.
However, in an interview Wednesday, McLaughlin took a much more conciliatory tone, calling for a compromise between Republicans and Democrats to find a set of laws that “work for everyone.”
“Both [parties] “It’s my road or the highway,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. We chose them to go there and represent the American people, and that means sitting at a table, sitting and negotiating. ”
An example of compromise? Background checks for gun purchases, he said.
“Why should any of us be afraid to expand inspections? There’s nothing wrong with that, I have nothing to hide, “said McLaughlin, who has also long insisted on building a psychiatric hospital in Uwalde.
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Tensions are rising between local and state law enforcement agencies in Uwalde as questions grow over changing public accounts of what happened last Tuesday and who is responsible for law enforcement response.
Last week, Abbott said he had been “misled” by law enforcement about the series of events that had taken place.
“The information provided to me turned out to be partly inaccurate, and I am absolutely angry about that,” he said, sitting next to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and McLaughlin.
But McLaughlin denied such comments on Monday, saying in a statement that local law enforcement had not “let anyone down”. He reiterated this in an interview, saying “local authorities have not lied to anyone.”
“The briefing that the governor and vice-governor and everyone else in this room [had] “It was given by the MRF, not by local law enforcement,” McLaughlin said.
“They had three press conferences,” he added. “Something has changed in all three press conferences.
McLaughlin said he had not “lost confidence” in the Department of Homeland Security and the Texas Rangers. Relatives of the 21 people killed “need answers,” he said. “And we want to make sure they get those answers.”
On Wednesday, Abbott asked state lawmakers to convene a pair of “special legislative committees” to address school safety and mass violence. Speaking to the National Rifle Association last week, the governor ruled out new gun restrictions in response to the massacre.
In a letter to Patrick, who is chairing the Senate, and House Speaker Dade Phelan (right), Abbott asked both houses to form committees to study five issues: school safety; mental health; social media; police training; and firearms safety.
“As leaders, we must unite at this time to provide solutions to protect all Texans,” Abbott said in a letter.
Late Wednesday, Patrick announced the formation of a special Senate committee to protect all Texans, which will hold a hearing on or after June 23. He named eight Republicans and three Democrats on the committee. Significantly absent from the list was Senator Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Uwalde and who was outspoken about the need for arms restrictions.
Uwalde mourns teacher who died defending children and husband who died two days later
Abbott also announced new guidelines for the Texas School Safety Center, a research center focused on campus safety and security that is legally responsible for auditing schools for safety processes and identifying best practices.
According to a letter from Abbott to education officials, the governor said the San Marcos-based security center should begin conducting “accidental intruder audits” to identify weaknesses in campus security systems.
School officials in Uwalde said Wednesday they were working to identify safety improvements that may be needed on the city’s school campuses. Officials also said Robb’s campus would not reopen after the tragedy. Students will be enrolled elsewhere.
McLaughlin said he could not imagine the school returning to normal.
“I hope we tear it down,” he said. “I would never expect a teacher, student or anyone to return to this building.
John Wagner in Washington and Eva Ruth Moravets of Austin contributed to this report.
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