The mayor of Uvalde, Texas, is accusing a local prosecutor of shutting down the investigation into the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School — and demanding he resign.
Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr. on Tuesday filed a second lawsuit against District Attorney Christina Mitchell in Uvalde County Court, alleging her investigation into the police department’s botched response was tainted because its chief investigator was on the scene during the police massacre.
The mayor demanded that Mitchell release all information he had about the massacre of 19 students and two teachers to the city’s independent investigator, Jesse Prado.
No one from the city currently has access to files from law enforcement agencies that responded to the May 24, 2022 massacre to ensure the confidentiality of the DA’s investigation.
His office is looking into whether any officers should be charged for the delay in responding, and whether anyone knew the gunman’s plans or helped him buy guns or ammunition.
“I believe that Christina Mitchell, the district attorney for the 38th Judicial District, has engaged in a cover-up regarding the city’s investigation into the Robb School tragedy,” McLaughlin said in a statement when he filed the suit.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin Jr. filed suit against the local district attorney who accused him of covering up his investigation into the school shooting.AP
“The city hired Mr. Jesse Prado from JPPI on July 21, 2022, about two months after the shooting, to investigate the shooting regarding the actions of members of the Uvalde Police Department,” he said of the city government’s decision to hire the former Austin police officer. .
“Since then, DA Mitchell has refused to provide all of the information requested by Mr. Prado to the city, resulting in the city’s suit being filed against him in his official capacity to obtain information necessary for Mr. Prado to complete the city’s administrative investigation.
“He failed, once again, to live up to his promise,” McLaughlin continued. “The city was forced to file suit a second time because DA Mitchell continued to obstruct the city’s investigation.”
The mayor asked District Attorney Christina Mitchell (above) to resign.Getty Images
“Christina Mitchell should resign immediately,” he insisted.
“Since day one, we’ve asked for transparency from every agency that was there that day,” the mayor said. “It’s been 15 months since this tragedy, and I think our family and community deserve answers.”
City officials originally sued Mitchell in November, accusing him of refusing to provide key information Prado needed for his investigation. The suit was dismissed in May when Mitchell agreed to provide the information to Prado.
But McLaughlin insists Mitchell still hasn’t kept his promise.
Uvalde police waited in the hallway of Robb Elementary School for 77 minutes while a gunman barricaded himself in a classroom and continued to open fire.AP
In response to the newly filed suit, Mitchell told the San Antonio Express-News he has no plans to back down — and defended his investigation.
He called the suit “a nuisance and an attempt to prevent me, as district attorney, from fulfilling my mandate to ensure that justice is done to the best of my ability under the law with the facts and evidence that I have.”
Mitchell also said that while his lead investigator, Shayne Gilland, was at Robb Elementary during the mass shooting, “he was not a first responder.”
The Uvalde Police Department has faced intense scrutiny and backlash for its delayed response.AP
He claims he stayed outside — in the school parking lot — while police officers waited in the hallway for 77 minutes as shooter Salvador Ramos, 18, continued to open fire on the fourth-grader.
Mitchell further described the city’s announcement as “an attempt to make an excuse as to why they haven’t completed their internal investigation, when all other law enforcement agencies have completed their internal investigations.”
“And they did it without any help from my office, and never asked me for any information,” he said.
Nineteen primary school students and two teachers were killed in the massacre at the primary school. AFP via Getty Images
“It is unfortunate that I now have to deal with this distraction instead of maintaining my primary responsibility of reviewing the Texas Ranger investigation.”
Mitchell previously told the Express-News that the Texas Rangers turned over their investigative file to him in July, and he plans to present the case to a grand jury later this year.
The Post has also reached out to the district attorney’s office for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
