Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez sues DPS for withholding Uvalde records

Sign up for The Brief, our each day publication that retains readers up to the mark on probably the most important Texas news.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, is suing the Texas Department of Public Safety over records associated to the lethal capturing at Robb Elementary final month.

“In the wake of the senseless tragedy, the people of Uvalde and Texas have demanded answers from their government. To date, they have been met with lies, misstatements, and shifts of blame,” Gutierrez stated in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

State and native Uvalde officers have fought the discharge of records that would present readability across the botched emergency response to the capturing that killed 19 kids and two educators. Law enforcement responding to the capturing waited greater than an hour on the scene earlier than breaking into the classroom to kill the shooter.

Gutierrez stated he filed an open records request on May 31 for documentation about police presence and ballistics on the capturing, and he nonetheless has not acquired a response. Per state regulation, DPS had 10 enterprise days to both reply or make a case to the lawyer basic.

Neither Gutierrez nor DPS instantly responded to requests for remark.

ProfessionalPublica and The Texas Tribune additionally submitted about 70 public information requests associated to emergency response documentation in the course of the capturing, together with 911 audio recordings, physique and police automotive digicam footage, and communications amongst native, state and federal companies. Four weeks after the capturing, authorities officers haven’t supplied the news organizations a single report associated to the emergency response.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s workplace, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Marshals Service and town of Uvalde have requested the state lawyer basic for permission to withhold some records. In most instances, the companies are arguing that releasing information may intervene with ongoing regulation enforcement investigations.

Abbott’s workplace on Tuesday stated all information associated to the capturing has been shared with the general public or is within the expedited technique of being launched. Full outcomes of the continuing investigation by the Texas Rangers and the FBI may even be made public, based on the governor’s workplace.

That similar day, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said metropolis officers have been unnoticed of briefings associated to the investigation from entities, similar to DPS, the Texas Legislature, the Uvalde County District Attorney’s workplace and the FBI.

McLaughlin accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about final month’s college capturing to scapegoat native regulation enforcement and deliberately leaving out particulars in regards to the state’s response to the bloodbath. He stated he had been requested by different officers to chorus from sharing particulars in regards to the investigation whereas it was ongoing, however stated Tuesday he would now begin releasing that information because it turned accessible to metropolis officers.

“The gloves are off. If we know it, we will share it,” he stated.

Join us Sept. 22-24 in particular person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and expertise 100+ dialog occasions that includes massive names and others you need to from the worlds of politics, public coverage, the media and tech — all curated by The Texas Tribune’s award-winning journalists. Buy tickets.