Texas shooting: Uvalde mayor says local police did not mislead anyone about law enforcement response

Nearly 50,000 donators have contributed over $2.7 million to a GoFundMe campaign for Irma Garcia, the 4th-grade teacher who bravely saved students during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. 

Garcia was one of two teachers killed last Tuesday, that also left 19 children dead.

“She would literally do anything for anybody,” the donation page said. “She loved her classroom kids and died trying to protect them.”

Her husband, Joe Garcia, died just days after the tragic shooting and the funds will go to help their four surviving children.

"Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than 25 years was too much to bear," the campaign added.

Other fundraising campaigns have been created for Eva Mireles, the other teacher killed Tuesday, as well as many of the students and their families.

Despite several calls for emergency assistance from within Robb Elementary School, law enforcement officers waited outside for over 70 minutes while suspected gunman Salvador Ramos gunned down 19 children and two teachers in a classroom.

The excruciating delay is a ghastly detail that frustrates the grieving Uvalde community and several of the residents want the officers who made the decision held accountable.

“You sign up to respond to those kinds of situations” said Juan Torres, an Uvalde resident and U.S. Army veteran. “If you are scared, then don’t be a police officer. Go flip burgers.”

At the center of the blame is Pete Arredondo, the school district's homegrown police chief who was the commander at the scene for Tuesday's mass shooting.

Arredondo, 50, instructed officers not to breach a classroom at Robb Elementary School sooner, as he did not believe children were still at risk — a decision the director of state police later said was "wrong."

Arredondo, who grew up in Uvalde and graduated from high school in the city, took the head police job at the school district in 2020.

“He dropped the ball maybe because he did not have enough experience. Who knows? People are very angry," said Maria Gonzalez, who knew Arredondo as a boy.

The U.S. Justice Department announced they are investigating the police response to the school shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This week was supposed to kick off the summer vacation for Robb Elementary School students in Uvalde, Texas, but following a mass shooting last week, many people in the community are instead spending their week attending the funeral services for the 21 victims.

A gathering for 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza was held at Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home Monday while another visitation for 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez was at the small town's other funeral home.

Eleven more funerals are planned later this week, which will include a service for teacher Irma Garcia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Disturbing new video obtained by the New York Post appears to show Texas school shooting suspect Salvador Ramos holding up a bag of dead cats.

Ramos is sitting in the passenger seat of a car and lifts up a bloody bag with at least two dead cats inside.

“The shooter was known for hurting cats,” David Trevino Jr., who is related to the shooter’s grandmother by marriage, told the New York Post.

“He liked hurting animals... I’m told he killed the cats and carried around the bag of bodies for s---- and giggles."

For more on this story: New video shows Texas school shooter Salvador Ramos holding bag of dead cats

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he discussed potential gun control legislation with both Republican and Democratic colleagues on Monday, noting that the Senate's deadline to find a compromise is this week.

"I just did two Memorial Day parades and at both events I was swamped by parents (Republicans and Democrats) pleading with me to get something - anything - done to stop these mass shootings," Sen. Murphy said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., directed fellow Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to engage with Democrats in the discussions.

President Biden said Monday that it's up to Congress to come to a compromise on gun control.

“McConnell is a rational Republican. Cornyn is as well,” Biden told reporters. “I think there’s a recognition on their part that they — we can’t continue like this. We can’t do this.”

Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who authorities say made the "wrong decision" not to immediately confront the elementary school shooter last week, was scheduled to be sworn in as a city council member on Tuesday, but that meeting has been delayed as the city mourns the victims of the tragedy, Mayor Dan McLaughlin said.

"Our focus on Tuesday is on our families who lost loved ones. We begin burying our children tomorrow, the innocent victims of last week’s murders at Robb Elementary School. The special City Council meeting will not take place as scheduled," McLaughlin said in a statement

"There is nothing in the City Charter, Election Code, or Texas Constitution that prohibits him from taking the oath of office. To our knowledge, we are currently not aware of any investigation of Mr. Arredondo." 

For more on this story: Uvalde school police chief's swearing-in ceremony for city council delayed following shooting

A custom casket maker in Texas is helping the victims and their families in the aftermath of Tuesday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Trey Ganem, 50, of SoulShine Industries in Edna, has reached out to and has personally met with many of the families of the deceased and has agreed to construct personalized caskets for them, Fox 26 of Houston reported.

"This casket is for an adult, for a very beautiful person, who tried to protect children," Ganem told the outlet, per the report. "I sat with the family. I was drawn to this casket, especially after hearing the stories."

"To listen to them talk about their loved one, it helps me incorporate the design for these caskets. When people talk about what they loved, they start smiling. Even though it’s this horrible time, they’re remembering the joy and the love their loved ones had."

For more on the story: Casket maker met with victims' families to make personalized caskets

President Biden suggested to a local lawmaker on Sunday that the federal government may provide funds to raze Robb Elementary School, where 21 people were shot and killed on Tuesday.

"He said, 'I'm not going away. I'm going to bring you resources. We're going to look to raze that school, build a new one,'" state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, told local news outlet KSAT. 

"I can't tell you how many little children that I've talked to that don't want to go into that building. They're just traumatized. They're just destroyed," Gutierrez added.

Click here for more on the story: President Biden suggests razing Texas elementary school where 21 people were killed, state senator says

The grandmother of Texas school shooting suspect Salvador Ramos was upgraded to "fair condition" on Sunday, hospital officials in San Antonio said.

The 66-year-old woman had been in serious condition all week after her grandson allegedly shot her in the face before going on a rampage at an elementary school less than a mile from her home.

Her husband, Rolando Reyes, told Fox News Digital earlier in the week that she was awake but couldn't speak after undergoing surgery on Wednesday.

Click here for more on the story: Texas school shooting suspect's grandmother upgraded to 'fair condition'

The Bidens arrived back in San Antonio on Sunday evening after spending the day in Uvalde with survivors and family members of the victims of the elementary school shooting earlier this week that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

The president and first lady visited a memorial outside Robb Elementary School and laid a bouquet of flowers near 21 white crosses, representing the lives that were lost.

After seeing the memorial, the Bidens attended Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church then met with victims’ families and first responders.

It’s the second community that the president has visited following a mass shooting this month, as Biden traveled to Buffalo on May 17 after a gunman shot and killed 10 people at a grocery store.

“Evil came to that elementary school classroom in Texas, to that grocery store in New York, to far too many places where innocents have died,” Biden said said in a commencement speech at the University of Delaware on Saturday.

“We cannot outlaw tragedy, I know, but we can make America safer. We can finally do what we have to protect the lives of the people and of our children."

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on Sunday called for accountability for the police department that responded to last week’s mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, saying it's clear that "protocols were not followed" after the revelation that officers waited outside the classroom containing the gunman and children for more than an hour until Border Patrol agents breached the door and killed him.

During an appearance on CNN’s "State of the Union," Crenshaw said "it's hard not to see how someone doesn't get fired" for the slow response to Robb Elementary School on Tuesday, when 19 children and two teachers were fatally shot by 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos.

"I know better than most not to necessarily judge the person who’s walking through the breach and is in that moment in the arena, but it does seem clear that protocols were not followed," he said.

Click here for more on this story: Crenshaw calls for ‘accountability’ in Uvalde police response: ‘Protocols were not followed’

President Biden embraces Mandy Gutierrez, the principal of Robb Elementary School, as he and first lady Jill Biden pay their respects in Uvalde, Texas.

President Biden left the Sacred Heart Catholic Church with a message for Uvalde residents.

After attending mass with first lady Jill Biden, Biden walked over to a crowd of people gathered outside the church who were chanting, “do something.”

“I will,” the president responded, giving a thumbs up.

The Bidens had attended a service by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, who invited all the children in attendance to sit up toward the front of the church.

“They passed away. But you are alive,” the archbishop said.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Sunday that it will conduct a Critical Incident Review of the law enforcement response to the mass shooting in Uvalde at the request of Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin.

“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," spokesman Anthony Coley said in a statement.

"The review will be conducted with the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing,” Coley continued. “As with prior Justice Department after-action reviews of mass shootings and other critical incidents, this assessment will be fair, transparent, and independent. The Justice Department will publish a report with its findings at the conclusion of its review.”

For more on this story: DOJ to investigate police response to Uvalde shooting

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived Sunday afternoon in Uvalde, Texas, where they visited a memorial for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting before attending mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The Bidens are then scheduled to meet with the families of victims and survivors of the shooting at the Uvalde County Event Center.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) defended police officers and law enforcement agencies after it was revealed they waited over an hour outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas during Tuesday’s mass shooting.

Cornyn said blaming the first responders after the complex incident is "distracting and unfair."

"The second-guessing and finger-pointing among state and local law enforcement is destructive, distracting, and unfair," he said Saturday.

Officers are being criticized amid reports they waited outside the school for more than 70 minutes as suspected gunman Salvador Ramos continued his rampage, ultimately killing 19 students and two teachers.

Click here for more on the story: Blaming police for waiting is ‘destructive, distracting, and unfair,’ Sen. Cornyn says

Vice President Kamala Harris called for a ban on "assault weapons" on Saturday after she spoke at the funeral of a woman killed in the Buffalo, New York grocery store mass shooting earlier this month. 

She called the firearm a "weapon of war" that has "no place in civil society."

"We are not sitting around waiting to figure out what the solution looks like. You know, we're not looking for a vaccine. We know what works on this," she told reporters outside of Air Force Two at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, referring to the series of mass shootings that have plagued the U.S. "Let's have an assault weapons ban."

For more on the story: Kamala Harris calls for 'assault weapons ban' in wake of Uvalde, Buffalo mass shootings

The likelihood of a copycat attack following the Uvalde school shooting remains high for the next two weeks, but officials and media can do more to try and limit that possibility, a former law enforcement official told Fox News Digital. 

"Studies have shown that, generally, the copycat phenomenon lasts for … maybe two weeks," retired FBI special agent in charge Michael Tabman explained. "That is when we're most at risk of a copycat, and there are many factors that go into why so many copycats, but the risk is there."

A number of similar gun scares have already occurred across Texas, with several South Texas districts labeling the incidents as "copycat" threats: Local news outlet 3 News reported on three such threats of violence against schools, each of which officials and law enforcement handled. 

For more on the story, click here: Copycat threat remains high 2 weeks after attack, but here's how we can limit that chance

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa said Saturday that he does not agree with the decision of San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler to protest the national anthem in the wake of a school shooting in Texas that left 21 victims dead.

"I think he’s exactly right to be concerned…with what’s happening in our country," La Russa said Saturday evening, ESPN reported. "He’s right there. Where I disagree is the flag and the anthem are not appropriate places to try to voice your objections."

The White Sox manager also said protesting the national anthem is an insult to the men and women who served and died in the U.S. military.

See more on the story by clicking here: White Sox's Tony La Russa calls Giants' Gabe Kapler's national anthem protest 'not appropriate'