As previously reported by REVOLT, Texas Senate hearings are underway at the Capitol regarding the deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. The May 24 massacre left 21 people dead, including 19 students and two teachers.
Yesterday (June 21), as director of the Texas Department of Public Safety Steve McCraw gave chilling details and criticized law enforcement’s response, he shared new information. According to McCraw, one life that could have been saved was Eva Mireles’, a teacher at Robb Elementary. During the attack, the woman reportedly called her husband, Uvalde CISD Police Officer Ruben Ruiz, to alert him of the situation. Mireles told Ruiz “she had been shot and was dying,” McCraw said before the state Senate.
As an armed Ruiz rushed to his wife’s aid, “he was detained and they took his gun away from him and escorted him off the scene,” McCraw shared. Multiple law enforcement agencies were present that day, including local police and U.S. Border Patrol officers. The director did not share which organization led the husband off the property.
McCraw has been vocal about his disapproval of how the situation was handled, calling the response an “abject failure.” During yesterday’s testimony, he stated the entire attack could have ended within three minutes had law enforcement checked to see if a door was unlocked. Initial reports indicated the shooter was barricaded in a classroom as he shot innocent children and teachers. However, new findings suggest the door was never locked.
It was also discovered that responding officers were armed with rifles and at least one bulletproof shield. Original stories claimed law enforcement did not immediately attempt to save lives because they needed backup assistance. Surveillance footage showed armed officers waiting in a hallway as frightened children and teachers called for help while being shot.