It's been almost two years since the Uvalde shooting — and three mothers who lost their daughters say they’re still waiting for justice.
Kimberly Mata-Rubio, Gloria Cazares and Veronica Mata founded Lives Robbed to advocate for gun reforms after their daughters were killed during the shooting at Robb Elementary in May 2022. The three women spoke at a panel at Southern Methodist University on Thursday for university’s Human Rights Fest.
Almost 400 law enforcement agencies at the state, local and federal level responded to the school shooting. But they waited 77 minutes to take out the shooter. Cazares said her daughter, Jackie, might still be alive if law enforcement took swifter action that day.
“We need some kind of justice,” Cazares said. “They need to be held accountable.”
A Department of Justice investigation of the shooting that was released earlier this year found policy and leadership failures in law enforcement's response to the shooting. Attorney General Merrick Garland called officials’ response a failure in a statement released with the report.
The city of Uvalde's independent investigation found the officers acted in good faith. It also exonerated Mariano Pargas, who was the acting Uvalde police chief at the time of the shooting.
Mata called the report a slap in the face. She said the people in power in Uvalde don't want to face what happened.
“They know what’s right,” Mata said. “They know that some of those police officers didn’t do what they were supposed to do.”
A Uvalde County grand jury is set to determine if officers who were at the shooting should be charged.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For AmericaCorps member for KERA News.
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