(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force are no longer cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the massacre at Robb Elementary School and the state’s review of the law enforcement response, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
The Uvalde police chief and a spokesperson for the Uvalde Independent School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News.
According to sources, the decision to stop cooperating occurred soon after the director of DPS, Col. Steven McCraw, held a news conference Friday during which he said the delayed police entry into the classroom was “the wrong decision” and contrary to protocol.
Reached by ABC News, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety said, “The Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde CISD Police have been cooperating with investigators. The chief of the Uvalde CISD Police provided an initial interview but has not responded to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers that was made two days ago.”
Last Tuesday’s attack, one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, left 19 children and two adults dead.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo was sworn in as a city council member Tuesday night.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said members were sworn in per the city’s charter.
“Out of respect for the families who buried their children today, and who are planning to bury their children in the next few days, no ceremony was held,” he said in a statement obtained by ABC News Austin affiliate KVUE-TV.
“Our parents deserve answers and I trust the Texas Department of Public Safety/Texas Rangers will leave no stone unturned,” McLaughlin continued. “Our emotions are raw, and hearts are broken, and words are sometimes exchanged because of those emotions.”
“I want Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to know that I misunderstood statements I thought he said. We both attended the same law enforcement briefing. We appreciate the concern Dan Patrick has for the citizens of Uvalde and local law enforcement,” the mayor added. “I ask everyone to pray for us, the citizens of Uvalde as we grieve, and live through the pain, and the healing process.”
The ceremony comes exactly one week since the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
The first funerals for two of the victims, both 10, took place on Tuesday.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News Tuesday that the Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force are no longer cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the massacre and the state’s review of the law enforcement response.
The Uvalde police chief and a spokesperson for the Uvalde Independent School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News regarding their cooperation with the investigation.
Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE
(UVALDE, Texas) — The Texas Department of Public Safety is correcting previous comments it made stating that a teacher had left a door propped open that the Uvalde gunman used to enter Robb Elementary School prior to the shooting.
Texas Department of Public Safety press secretary Ericka Miller confirmed to ABC News that investigators have now determined that the teacher closed the door but that the door did not lock. Law enforcement is looking into why the door did not lock, DPS confirmed to ABC News.
The clarification comes just days after Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the teacher left the door propped open prior to the gunman entering the school.
“The teacher runs to the room, 132, to retrieve a phone, and that same teacher walks back to the exit door and the door remains propped open,” McCraw said during a press conference last Friday.
A lawyer for the teacher told the San Antonio Express-News that the teacher “saw the wreck” and then “ran back inside to get her phone to report the accident. She came back out while on the phone with 911. The men at the funeral home yelled, ‘He has a gun!’ She saw him jump the fence, and he had a gun so she ran back inside.”
The lawyer added, “She kicked the rock away when she went back in. She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 911 that he was shooting. She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked.”
(PIGEON KEY, Fla.) — A woman was killed and two children injured in a parasailing accident in the Florida Keys on Monday, authorities said.
The individuals were parasailing shortly before 5:30 p.m. when the vessel’s tow line snapped, causing them to drag across the water, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement incident report.
The winds had “picked up” and the parasail struck the Old Seven Mile Bridge near Pigeon Key, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement Tuesday.
The woman and one of the boys were unconscious following the collision, police said. A good Samaritan helped bring the three individuals to a nearby dock, according to the incident report.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene after first responders attempted life-saving measures, police said. The boy regained consciousness and was transported to Miami Children’s Hospital for treatment, authorities said. His current condition is unclear. The other boy suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
There were between 10 to 12 family members at the scene, including the woman’s husband, according to the incident report.
The victims, who have not been publicly identified, were from Schaumburg, Illinois, and had been on a parasail ride with Lighthouse Parasail, based in Marathon, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. ABC News did not immediately hear back from Lighthouse Parasail for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Even as the first funerals of the 21 victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting were commencing, gunfire continued to wreak havoc across the United States over the Memorial Day weekend as police in eight major cities investigated incidents in which three or more people were shot, including 16 children.
The gun violence was especially acute in Philadelphia and Chicago, where police departments in both cities dispatched officers to more than 40 shootings between Friday afternoon and Monday night.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that keeps track of shootings across the country, there have been 17 episodes across the nation in which four or more people have been shot since the Uvalde mass shooting on May 24.
14 fatally shot in Philly
At least 14 people, including a 9-year-old boy and his father, were killed in Philadelphia over the holiday weekend.
Philadelphia has already recorded 209 homicides this year, just three less than at this time in 2021 — a year that saw a record 562 homicides, according to Philadelphia Police Department crime statistics.
Among those killed this weekend in Philadelphia were 37-year-old Gerald Parks and his 9-year-old son, Jamal. Police said the father and son had just arrived home in the city’s Wissinoming section Sunday night when a barrage of gunfire erupted.
Parks and his son, who were coming from a holiday cookout, were found dead in their car. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.
In a separate episode Monday evening, one person was killed and another was seriously injured when at least 70 shots were fired in a North Philadelphia neighborhood near Temple University, police said. Apparently several shooters, who remain unidentified and at large, were involved in the incident at about 6:30 p.m. and four guns were found at the scene, according to police.
Hours later, more than 40 gunshots rang out at a party in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, leaving a 16-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman dead, according to police. Investigators believe that at least two gunmen were involved in the shooting that also left a 14-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man injured. No arrests have been announced.
Also on Monday, three people were shot, one fatally, on a street in West Philadelphia, police said. One of the victims shot is believed to be an innocent bystander who was hit by a stray bullet, according to police.
The shooting happened around 11 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a 32-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Police also learned a 29-year-old woman who was a passenger in a moving car was hit by a stray bullet and critically injured. The third victim ran and was found shot twice in the leg a few blocks away by officers and paramedics.
Police said at least 34 spent shell casings were found at the West Philadelphia crime scene.
“This violence must stop. Families and friends are losing loved ones, and our youth are having their lives and potential cut short,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted Monday night. “We must all work together to end this heartbreaking, maddening epidemic and make a safer city for everyone.”
9 killed in Chicago
At least 47 people were injured and nine killed in a series of shootings across Chicago over the weekend, according to police.
Five people, including a 16-year-old girl, were shot in one incident in Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood early Sunday morning. The shooting occurred during a gathering to commemorate a teenager who was fatally shot two years ago, according to police.
Shell casings from at least three guns, including an AK-47 rifle, were found at the scene, police said. No arrests have been announced.
Also on Sunday, a 69-year-old man was killed and four other people were injured in a shooting that erupted in Chicago’s West Humboldt Park neighborhood, police said. Police said the shooting stemmed from a domestic violence incident and that a 23-year-old man who was shot in the foot has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Chicago has recorded 232 homicides this year, a 10% decrease from the same period in 2021, according to police department crime statistics.
The shootings in Chicago this weekend came despite an order canceling days off for police officers over the Memorial Day weekend and the city expanding the hours of a curfew on minors unaccompanied by adults in Millennium Park, a major tourist attraction where a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot two weeks ago.
10 people shot in Charleston
Ten people, including a 17-year-old, were injured in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, late Monday night, including a police officer, when gunfire erupted. The incident remained under investigation Tuesday.
The shooting unfolded at about 11:40 p.m., police said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, several fights broke out and two officers were assaulted, according to police. Two women were arrested and charged with the assaults on the police officers, authorities said.
6 teenagers shot in Chattanooga
Six teenagers were shot and wounded, two critically, Saturday night when multiple people opened fire in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, during a confrontation between two large groups of young people, authorities said.
Chattanooga police officers were patrolling the downtown area at around 11 p.m. when they heard the gunshots and immediately responded to help those injured, Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy said during a news conference on Sunday.
No arrests have been announced.
7 injured, 1 killed, in shooting at Memorial Day event in Oklahoma
One person was killed and seven were injured after a shooting broke out during a Memorial Day festival in Oklahoma.
About 1,500 people were in attendance at the festival at the Old City Square in Taft, about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, when the shooting took place just after midnight Sunday, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
A 39-year-old woman was killed in the incident and a 9-year-old child was among those injured, authorities said.
Police said the 26-year-old suspect, Skyler Buckner, turned himself in Sunday afternoon.
4 shot at Houston party
Gunfire erupted at a Houston house party Sunday night, leaving four people wounded, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
All of the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. But police said one of the shooting victims hit and killed a motorcyclist while attempting to drive himself to a hospital.
Teenager killed, five injured in Phoenix shooting
An 18-year-old man was fatally shot and five other teenagers were wounded during a shooting at a house party in Phoenix, Arizona early Sunday.
Police said the wounded victims ranged in age 16 to 18, and all are expected to survive.
No arrests have been announced and police said at least two different guns were used in the shooting.
1 dead, 6 hurt, in Michigan bar shooting
A shooting outside a Michigan bar left a 19-year-old man dead and six other people injured early Sunday morning.
The shooting unfolded around 2:30 a.m. outside the Ajay’s Lounge and A and D Liquor Store in Benton Harbor.
Witnesses told ABC affiliate WBND in South Bend, Indiana, that prior to the shooting, a fight broke over a ticketed event Ajay’s Lounge in which a rapper people thought was going to perform only made an appearance.
No arrests have been announced in the shooting.
7 hurt in Nevada freeway shooting involving motorcycle gangs
Seven people were injured, two critically, Saturday when gunfire erupted on a freeway in Henderson, Nevada, police said.
The Henderson Police Department said a preliminary investigation indicates the shooting occurred just before noon on Interstate 95 and stemmed from an altercation between members of rival motorcycle gangs.
Three suspects were identified and arrested on charges of attempted murder, felony battery, conspiracy to commit murder and discharging a gun at occupied vehicles. Police identified the suspects as 66-year-old Richard Devries, 46-year-old Stephen Alo and 26-year-old Russell Smith.
4 people shot in Memphis
Four people were shot Friday night near a rogue car show in Memphis, Tennessee, police said.
One of the people wounded in the shooting was arrested and charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.
It was unclear if the 27-year-old man taken into custody was involved in the shooting.
Police said the victims all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
6 shot at Alabama graduation party
Six people, including a 14-year-old child, were injured in a shooting at a graduation party in Anniston, Alabama, on Friday, police said.
About 150 people were at the party when the shooting broke out in the town about 64 miles east of Birmingham, police said.
Investigators said they recovered dozens of shell casings at the scene and that multiple cars in the area were struck by gunfire.
No arrests were announced.
Florida house party shooting leaves 4 wounded
Four teenagers were shot when a fight broke out at a house party in Malabar, Florida, on Saturday night, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting erupted just before midnight in the city about 77 miles southwest of Orlando, authorities said.
The victims ranged in age from 15 to 18 and all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
No arrests have been announced.
1 killed, 3 injured in Fresno, California
A teenager was killed and three others were injured in a shooting near a park in downtown Fresno, California, on Friday, police said.
The shooting started about 9 p.m. near Radio Park and left a 17-year-old boy dead. A 15-year-old boy and two 16-year-olds were wounded in the shooting, according to the Fresno Police Department.
The injured victims are all expected to survive, police said.
No arrests have been made.
1 dead, 3 injured in Colorado Springs
An 18-year-old man was killed and three 18-year-old women were wounded in a drive-by shooting early Friday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The victims were standing in the parking lot of a bar around 1:15 a.m. when gunfire erupted from a passing car, police said.
No arrests have been announced.
A mother, 3 children fatally shot in Michigan
A 40-year-old mother and her three children — ages 6, 4 and 3 — were allegedly shot to death on Friday by the stepfather of the children, police said.
The quadruple homicide occurred at a house in Austin Township, Michigan, north of Grand Rapids, according to the Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office.
The stepfather of the children, identified by relatives as Charles Gillard, 51, is suspected of committing the killings around 2:30 p.m. Friday, according to the sheriff’s office.
Charles Gillard was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was in critical condition at a hospital on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said.
Relatives identified the victims as Dawn Gillard and her children, 6-year-old Katelynn, 4-year-old Ronald, and 3-year-old Joshua.
“I am in total shock. I am so devastated,” Hailey Salisbury, the daughter of Dawn Gillard’s daughter and the half-sister to the young children who were killed, told ABC affiliate station WZZM in Grand Rapids.
(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force are no longer cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the massacre at Robb Elementary School and the state’s review of the law enforcement response, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
A spokesman for Texas DPS, which is running the state’s investigations, declined to comment.
The Uvalde police chief and a spokesperson for the Uvalde Independent School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News.
According to sources, the decision to stop cooperating occurred soon after the director of DPS, Col. Steven McCraw, held a news conference Friday during which he said the delayed police entry into the classroom was “the wrong decision” and contrary to protocol.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LARGO, Fla.) — A Florida man was killed in a suspected alligator attack, authorities said.
The Largo Police Department said Tuesday it is investigating the death of a man at Taylor Lake in Largo, a city in the Tampa Bay area.
“At this time, detectives believe the victim was looking for Frisbees in the water and a gator was involved,” the department said in a statement.
The man was found by a visitor at Taylor Park, home to a 53-acre freshwater lake, and police were contacted around 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to Largo Police Department spokesperson Megan Santo.
The man’s identity has not been released pending next-of-kin notification. He was 47-years-old, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which also responded to the scene.
The agency was still working to capture the alligator Tuesday afternoon, Santo said.
“A contracted nuisance alligator trapper is working to remove a nearby alligator and efforts will be made to determine if it was involved in this situation,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement.
Police urged residents and visitors to avoid going near or swimming in the lake at any time. There are no swimming signs posted at the lake, according to police.
Fatal alligator bites are rare. From 1948 to 2021, Florida reported 442 unprovoked bite incidents from alligators, 26 of which resulted in fatalities, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In the last 10 years, the state has averaged eight unprovoked bites a year that require medical treatment, the agency said.
The likelihood of someone being seriously injured during an unprovoked alligator incident in Florida is roughly one in 3.1 million, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The last fatal alligator attack in Florida was in 2019, according to the agency.
A man was bitten in the face by an alligator at Taylor Park in 2020 while looking for frisbees in the lake, Tampa ABC affiliate Tampa WFTS reported at the time. The injury was non-life-threatening.
(UVALDE) — The first funerals for victims killed in the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history are expected to occur in Uvalde, Texas, one week after the massacre.
Amerie Jo Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10 years old, will be laid to rest Tuesday following funeral services in the afternoon. Visitations for the students began on Monday.
The last photo ever taken of Garza, at this year’s award’s day, was featured inside the Hillcrest Funeral Home where her visitation took place, one mourner told ABC Houston station KTRK. Maite Rodriguez was “charismatic” and “goal-driven,” her mother told The Associated Press.
“I can’t begin to imagine what these families are going through,” the woman said as she wiped away tears. “And that’s the hardest part. You know, if I could take a little bit of their pain away, I think I would.”
Visitations at the same funeral home also began on Tuesday for Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo and Jose Manuel Flores Jr., both 10 years old.
Twenty-one people, including 19 third and fourth graders and two teachers, were murdered on May 24 when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos allegedly opened fire at Robb Elementary School with an AR-15 style rifle he purchased days before.
Another 17 people, including three law enforcement officers, were injured in the attack.
Memorial services for victims are expected to take place in the small town through June 16.
The funeral for cousins Jailah Nicole Silguero, 11, and Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10, will take place Friday at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The cousins were “full of life” and “always had a smile on their face,” their family said in a statement to ABC News.
Jacklyn Cazares, 10, will be remembered at Sacred Heart on Friday. She “had the biggest heart,” her mother, Jacinto Cazares, told ABC News.
Annabell Rodriguez, 10, Cazares’ cousin who was in the same fourth-grade class, was also killed in the shooting. Her funeral will take place on June 8 at the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary.
Services for Maranda Gail Mathis, 11, and Eliahana Cruz Torres are scheduled for Thursday at the Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary. Ellie Garcia will be laid to rest on Monday after her funeral takes place at Sacred Heart.
Makenna Elrod’s funeral will take place at First Baptist Church on Saturday. The 10-year-old’s “smile would light up a room,” her aunt, Allison McCullough, confirmed to ABC News.
The funeral for Rojelio Torres, 10, will take place at Rushing Knowles on Saturday. Rojelio Torres’ mother, Evadulia Orta, described her son to ABC News as a “”very smart and loving child.”
Alithia Ramirez will be buried Sunday after her funeral takes place at First Baptist Church. Her grandmother, Rosa Maria Ramirez, described her to ABC News as a “very talented little girl” who loved to draw.
Xavier Lopez, 10, will be buried at the Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery after his funeral on June 7. He was always the “life of the party,” his grandmother, Amelia Sandoval, told ABC News.
The funeral for fourth grade teacher Eva Mireles will take place on June 10 at Sacred Heart. Miresles’ cousin, Amber Ybarra, described her as a “hero” and an “amazing mom.”
Alexandria Rubio will be remembered on June 11 at First Baptist Church. The straight A student received a good citizen award from her school on the day she was killed, her family said.
The funeral for Tess Mata, 10, will take place on June 13 at Sacred Heart. Her mother, Veronica Mata, told ABC News she never believed a school shooting could happen in their small town.
The memorial services for Irma Garcia, one of the teachers killed in the shooting, her husband, Jose Garcia and student Uziyah Garcia have not yet been announced. Uziyah, who is not related to Irma and Jose Garcia, was described by his grandfather as “the sweetest little boy that I’ve ever known.”
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Break out the sunscreen, hats and water bottles: record high temperatures are possible in the Northeast Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures are forecast to skyrocket to 94 degrees in New York City, 97 degrees in Philadelphia, 95 degrees in Washington, D.C., and 90 degrees in Pittsburgh.
The record high temperatures currently stand at 96 degrees for New York City, 97 for Philadelphia and 99 for D.C.
In Baltimore, students at public schools without air conditioning will be released at noon on Tuesday, according to the school district.
Philadelphia students will also be dismissed early due to the heat, ABC Philadelphia station WPVI reported.
This dangerous heat won’t last long for New York City, with temperatures falling to around 70 degrees on Wednesday. But the Philadelphia and D.C. areas will still be near 90 degrees Wednesday.
Click here to learn tips to stay safe in the heat.
(UVALDE, Texas) — Video obtained by ABC News, taken outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, as last week’s massacre was unfolding inside, appears to capture a 911 dispatcher alerting officers on scene that they were receiving calls from children who were alive inside the classroom that the gunman had entered — as law enforcement continued to wait nearly an hour and a half to enter the room.
“Child is advising he is in the room, full of victims,” the dispatcher can be heard saying in the video. “Full of victims at this moment.”
“Is anybody inside of the building at this…?” the dispatcher asked.
Minutes later, the dispatcher says again: “Eight to nine children.”
The video, obtained by ABC News, also shows police rescuing children from inside the school by breaking through a window and pulling them out, and also leading them out the back door to safety.
Early on, an officer can be heard warning bystanders to stay back because there is a man with a rifle.
Minutes later, what appear to be gunshots are heard ringing out.
The video, which appears to show some of what took place outside the school, raises new questions about law enforcement’s response to one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings, which left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The gunman was left inside the classroom for 77 minutes as 19 officers waited in the hallway — and many more waited outside the building — after the incident commander wrongly believed the situation had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, law enforcement has said.
Federal officers ultimately decided to enter the building and killed the gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
At a news conference Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McGraw said children inside the classroom had called 911 a number of times begging for them to “please send police now.” It appeared that information may not have been relayed to officers on the ground, he said.
“That question will be answered,” McGraw said when asked directly if the incident commander on the ground received the 911 information. “I’m not going to share the information we have right now. Because I don’t have — I don’t have the detailed interview right now.”
But the video obtained by ABC News, taken just outside the premises, appears to show that 911 dispatchers were relaying the information — including information that the room was “full of victims.” It is not clear who on scene, if anyone, heard the calls coming in from the dispatchers.
“Advise we do have a child on the line,” an apparent dispatcher can be heard saying in the video.
The dispatcher’s information heard on the video appears to match the readout of the 911 calls provided last week by law enforcement officials. McGraw said a child had called 911 saying she was in room 112 and had “advised there were multiple dead.”
Later, McGraw said, “she called back and said there’s eight to nine students alive.”
More than one of the children who dialed 911 from inside the classroom survived, McGraw said on Friday.
The Department of Justice on Sunday announced it would be conducting a “fair, transparent, and independent” review of the law enforcement response to the shooting. The findings of the review, the department said, would be published in a report and made available to the public.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” DOJ said in its release.
