Vicky Arias, FISM News
Today marks one year since the tragic massacre in Uvalde, Texas in which a gunman entered Robb Elementary School and murdered 19 children and two teachers.
The families of those killed in the massacre, part of a group called Lives Robbed, plan to hold a commemoration ceremony Wednesday evening in remembrance of their lost loved ones. The vigil will be held at Uvalde Memorial Park amphitheater.
Lives Robbed advocates for legislative gun reform as well as raising the legal age to buy an assault rifle to 21 years old.
Additionally, on Thursday, parents whose children were killed in the massacre were allowed entrance to the school for the first time since the tragedy.
The elementary school is no longer in use and has remained closed since the shooting last year. Families were initially denied entrance to the school as it was being investigated as a crime scene.
Many Uvalde families have spoken out against local law enforcement’s delayed response to the tragedy, condemning the length of time it took, a staggering 77 minutes, for police to engage and take down the shooter.
Nearly 400 law enforcement officers were on the scene, some within three minutes, yet the gunman wasn’t killed for more than an hour.
According to a July 2022 investigative report from Texas lawmakers, “despite the immediate presence of local law enforcement leaders, there was an unacceptably long period of time before officers breached the classroom, neutralized the attacker, and began rescue efforts.”
The report also explained that the “highest priority” of law enforcement during an active shooter situation should be to save “innocent lives” and claimed that “responders failed to adhere to their active shooter training, and they failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety.”
Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin, in a press conference on Monday, said that all law enforcement agencies who were on the scene that day should be “held accountable,” while also advocating for “changing the law and … stronger background checks” for firearms purchases.
Local Uvalde pastor, Tony Gruben, addressed the broken-hearted in a Fox4 report.
“Know that God’s power is made perfect in … our weakness, and he heals the brokenhearted, and he lifts up the fallen, and I’m grateful for that because that’s where I am,” Gruben said.
In observance of the tragedy, Uvalde schools will be closed from May 23 through May 25.