Steve McCraw described the police response as an "abject failure" that ignored lessons from previous shootings and put the lives of officers ahead of the lives of children. McCraw blamed the incident commander, Pete Arredondo, the school district's police chief, for stopping officers from quickly confronting the gunman.
Arredondo said he did all he could and pointed to the effort to evacuate hundreds of students from other classrooms during the tragedy. But many parents and other communities want him out.
"In any public health intervention, controversy, unfortunately, can become a weakening distraction against the solutions, immediate and long-term," Omenka said, referencing an African proverb: "When elephants fight, the grasses suffer."
Nancy Sutton, a professional school portrait photographer, has taken pictures of virtually every student at Uvalde schools for the past 20 years. That includes victims of the carnage at Robb Elementary.
Sutton said the community is taking great care of the families. Recovery has been made more difficult by "bad press" over how the shooting was handled, she said, adding that most residents are upset with the police and city officials and want action.
"We are all still grieving and it will take a while," she said. "The families are holding strong but of course want answers. I don’t blame them. It’s so heartbreaking to see what it’s done to our community and our school district.”
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