Texas House investigation of Uvalde shooting begins with closed-door questions

AUSTIN — A particular Texas House committee started its investigation into the Uvalde shooting Thursday with regulation enforcement testifying behind closed doorways.

Following temporary remarks from members of the three-person panel, the committee adjourned to a closed session. While the character of Thursday’s testimony is unknown, it seems that Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw is ready to testify.

McCraw and at the very least one different DPS official have been current on the Capitol listening to and adopted committee members to a closed room after temporary opening remarks.

McCraw has been on the middle of the response to questions and issues from the general public within the aftermath of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 schoolchildren and two academics useless. He didn’t make any public statements Thursday morning.

The committee’s chair, Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, mentioned there isn’t a timeline for the completion of its work, however they could produce a preliminary report within the coming weeks.

“The people of Uvalde — and the entire State of Texas — deserve facts and answers as to what happened leading up to, during, and in the aftermath of this tragedy, and this committee will do everything in its power to get to the bottom of the matter,” Burrows mentioned.

House Speaker Dade Phelan shaped the committee in response to incorrect and incomplete information surrounding the lethal college shooting. The investigation is one of many into the shooting, together with a Justice Department probe.

A central controversy of the shooting is the choice by the Uvalde faculties’ police chief to not order regulation enforcement officers to confront the 18-year-old gunman for greater than an hour whereas he was barricaded inside a classroom. It is unclear whether or not the committee will name the chief, Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, to testify.

McCraw, the DPS chief, has publicly criticized Arredondo’s inaction throughout the shooting, calling it “the wrong decision.”

El Paso Democratic Rep. Joe Moody and former Texas Supreme Court Judge Eva Guzman are additionally on the committee. Moody, a former prosecutor, mentioned that Texans can not let college shootings grow to be “the new normal” and that they’ve grow to be “an epidemic.”

“This is a complicated issue no single thing is going to fix,” Moody mentioned. “But what we can’t accept is a do-nothing attitude. Failing to tackle these issues because they’re difficult or politically uncomfortable is cowardly.”

Phelan has mentioned the committee’s work will inform the House’s legislative response to the shooting. Congress is also contemplating a spread of modifications to federal gun legal guidelines.

So far, main Republicans together with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have targeted on growing safety at faculties and psychological well being as attainable options. Democrats have renewed efforts to cross firearm restrictions, similar to pink flag legal guidelines, common background checks and elevating the age of buy for semi-automatic rifles just like the one used on the shooting to 21.