Update on Uvalde.
Nineteen families of the students and teachers killed or injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, announced Wednesday they have settled a lawsuit with the city for $2 million and are suing 92 officers with Texas Department of Public Safety, the school district and individual employees.
“For two long years, we have languished in pain and without any accountability from the law enforcement agencies and officers who allowed our families to be destroyed that day. This settlement reflects a first good faith effort by the City of Uvalde to begin rebuilding trust in the systems that failed to protect us,” Veronica Luevanos, whose daughter Jailah and nephew Jayce were killed, said in a statement.
“But it wasn’t just Uvalde officers who failed us that day. Nearly 100 officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety have yet to face a shred of accountability for cowering in fear while my daughter and nephew bled to death in their classroom.”
As part of the settlement, Uvalde will pay the families a total of $2 million from its insurance coverage, according to a statement from attorneys.
In addition, the city pledged to institute several policy changes to the police department, such as a new “fitness for duty” standard for police officers. The city will also establish May 24 as an annual Day of Remembrance, will create a committee to coordinate designing a permanent memorial and will support mental health services for the families, survivors and community, the attorneys said.
CNN has reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the DPS Officers Association, and the Uvalde Independent School District for response.
The suit comes just before the two-year anniversary of the May 24, 2022, mass shooting in which an 18-year-old stormed into the elementary school, killed 19 children and two teachers and barricaded himself in a classroom. A total of 376 law enforcement officers from across the region rushed to the school to respond, but ultimately none of them breached the door to the classroom to confront the shooter for 77 minutes.
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