For the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting, 2024 was an emotional rollercoaster as reports, legal actions, and ongoing calls for accountability continued two years after the tragedy.
The year began with the U.S. Department of Justice releasing its highly anticipated assessment of the law enforcement response to the 2022 shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland traveled to Uvalde for the report's release, which described the response as a "cascading failure" of law enforcement coordination.
In March, the city of Uvalde released its own report, clearing all its officers who were on-site that day of wrongdoing. An independent investigation by former Austin police Det. Jesse Prado also exonerated acting Uvalde Police Chief Mariano Pargas, instead placing blame on the School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
June saw the first and only criminal indictments against law enforcement involved in the response. Arredondo and former officer Adrian Gonzales were arrested on charges of abandoning and endangering a child. Both pleaded not guilty. Arredondo’s attorney argued that he was not the incident commander, despite the district’s school shooter policy designating him as such.
The response involved 376 officers, including 99 from the Texas Department of Public Safety. In August, DPS reinstated the only trooper suspended for their role in the failed response. By September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a detailed report highlighting critical flaws in how 188 Customs and Border Protection agents responded. The report questioned CBP’s authority to intervene in non-federal incidents.
The Border Patrol Tactical Unit ultimately neutralized the gunman.
In November, efforts to obtain full transparency were stymied when lawyers for the state of Texas and the Uvalde district attorney blocked the release of police records related to the shooting, despite a district court judge’s order to make them public.
Families of the victims continue to call for accountability, citing the reports and legal hurdles as evidence of systemic failures that demand reform and justice.
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