The latest edition of the newspaper makes it clear that many officials in the Uwalde area stubbornly refuse to comment, even to local reporters who know them best.
Journalists from both local and national news outlets are hitting the same wall, while government officials are avoiding questions and pursuing ongoing investigations.
Initially, officials shared what we are now told is false information about everything from the shooter who first faced a school employee (he was not, they have said since) to a teacher who supports the door (the latest version is was not open when the shooter entered).
Now the employees do not share anything at all. Press briefings have stopped, with the latter taking place last Friday. Interviews decreased. “We will maintain our comments until all state and federal agencies have completed their review,” the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District said in a statement on Wednesday.
Leader-News reported that the local sheriff also declined to comment for the same reason, and the local police chief did not respond at all. Uwalde Mayor Don McLaughlin is one of the few officials to say: He told the paper, “I want these families to have answers.”
Reporters look for these answers in a variety of ways: emails, phone calls, document requests, and what editors sometimes like to call “leather shoe journalism” appear and knock on doors.
CNN reporters took the approach Wednesday with Uwalde School Police Chief Pedro Pete Aredondo, first when producer Aaron Cooper saw him in front of his home and then when CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupets confronted him in front of his office. “I just want your reaction to Director McCrow saying that you are responsible for the decision to enter this room,” Prokupets said. “How do you explain yourself to your parents?”
It is not explained yet. Aredondo declined to answer questions on the merits.
Later that morning, CNN reporters were threatened with arrest after trying to speak to Uwalde school district spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza.
The door to the central office was closed to them, and a little later about eight police cars appeared in the office. “The school district called the police to ask the media to leave their property,” Prokupets wrote. Aredondo is rumored to be in the office.
Uwalde police say the news team “violated” property in the Uwalde public school area. The journalists then moved to the street and were told they would be arrested for the offense if they returned to the property.
At the end of the working day, around 6 pm, San Antonio Express-News reporter Guillermo Contreras tweeted that the police were still there to “guard” while media representatives waited for Aredondo.
Mark Duvoisin, editor-in-chief of Express-News, told CNN that “this is an isolated example of the tension that arose as Uvalde went through the second week of intense media coverage. This week, families began burying murdered children and teachers. it has undoubtedly added to the tension. “
In general, Duvoisin said, “journalists are allowed to do their job.” But the answers are few and far between. The headline of Thursday’s banner Express-News may be one of the reasons: “Officials are preparing for lawsuits.”
There have been conflicting statements in recent days about Arredondo’s cooperation with the Texas Department of Public Safety, which says it is leading the investigation into the shooting.
On Wednesday, after CNN made numerous inquiries to the Arredondo department, a spokesman said the DPS was still leading the investigation, but added that the DPS was now postponing media questions to the Uvalde district attorney.
So Prokupets and other reporters tried to talk to prosecutor Christina Mitchell Busby on Thursday morning. She ignores their questions. “There is a lot of information that needs to come out,” Prokupets said just before closing the car door.
CNN’s Ashley Kielow, Nick Valencia, Mark Morales and Matthew Friedman contributed to the reports.
Add Comment