Drama continues to unfold in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, ground zero for a terrible mass shooting at an elementary school in May 2022.
The shooting spree occurred at Robb Elementary School — 19 students and two teachers died at the hands of 18-year-old shooter Salvador Ramos.
In the wake of the horrific incident, officers were blamed for inaction and for forbidding concerned parents from entering the facility to rescue children who were in harm’s way.
On Tuesday, Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr. filed a lawsuit against District Attorney Christina Mitchell, “claiming her probe of the police department’s failed response is tainted because her chief investigator was at the scene during the massacre along with cops,” according to the New York Post.
According to the filing, McLaughlin is demanding Mitchell release information associated with her investigation to an independent investigator, Jesse Prado.
McLaughlin complained that city officials do not have access to reports from the law enforcement agencies that responded to the May 24, 2022, massacre.
The mayor maintains public disclosure of this information is essential for maintaining public confidence in law enforcement officials. The district attorney maintains the records must remain sealed to ensure the confidentiality of the DA’s investigation.
Adamant, McLaughlin said in a statement accompanying the filing: “I believe that Christina Mitchell, the district attorney for the 38th Judicial District, has been involved in a cover-up regarding the city’s investigation into the Robb School tragedy.”
The filing clarifies:
“The city hired Mr. Jesse Prado of JPPI on July 21, 2022, approximately two months after the shooting, to investigate the shooting regarding the actions of Uvalde Police Department personnel.
“Since then, DA Mitchell has refused to provide the city with all information Mr. Prado has requested, resulting in the city filing suit against her in her official capacity to obtain the necessary information for Mr. Prado to complete the city’s administrative investigation.
“She failed, once again, to keep her word. The city had to file a suit a second time because DA Mitchell continues to block the city’s investigation.
“Christina Mitchell should resign immediately.
“Since day one, we have called for transparency from every agency that was there that day. It’s been 15 months since this tragedy, and I feel the families and our community deserve answers.”
The mayor originally filed a suit in November — that suit was dismissed with Mitchell agreeing to turn over the requested documents to Prado. More than three months later, Mitchell has yet to comply.
Mitchell responded to Tuesday’s legal filing in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News, defending her investigation and vowing she would not resign.
Mitchell referred to the suit as a “distraction and an attempt to keep me, as the district attorney, from completing my mandate to see that justice is done to the best of my ability under the law with the facts and evidence that I have.”
The district attorney added: “It’s unfortunate that I am now going to have to address this distraction instead of keeping with my primary responsibility of reviewing the Texas Ranger investigation.” Mitchell planned to present the case to a grand jury by the end of the year after the Texas Rangers gave her the investigative file in July.
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