When did the Uvalde shooting take place? Texas prosecutor convenes Grand Jury to investigate the incident

A grand jury has been convened to investigate the Uvalde shooting that took place in Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. The mass shooting incident ended with 21 people dead.

Disclaimer: The article contains videos and mentions of mass shootings.

Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell told the San Antonio Express-News that a grand jury will review evidence related to the mass shooting. Families of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the attack renewed demands for criminal charges, as per People.

The request for charges is against the officers involved in the hesitant and haphazard police response to the massacre. It follows a Justice Department report released on Thursday, January 18, 2024, that brought to light the failures of police during the tragic classroom shootings, as per AP News.

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Uvalde shooting: Grand jury investigation expected to last 6 months

On May 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos fatally shot 21 people, including 19 third- and fourth-grade children. Two teachers were among those killed, while 17 people were wounded, including three law enforcement officers.

On January 18, 2024, the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing, known as the COPS Office, filed a report calling the law enforcement response to the Uvalde shooting an "unimaginable failure," as per CBS. The 600-page report found that police officers responded to 911 calls within minutes but waited to enter classrooms and had a disorganized response.

The report was made after COPS looked at thousands of pieces of data and documentation and relied on more than 260 interviews with officials and school staff, family members of victims, and witnesses from the Uvalde shooting.

Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell has stated that a grand jury will be assembled to look through the evidence. In a statement to Uvalde Leader-News, she said,

"My office continues to methodically and systematically dissect the Texas Rangers investigation of which I have possessed for less than a year. I want to ensure that our efforts in this process are careful, deliberate, and fair. I am continuously mindful of my responsibility to the victims, their families, to those under a cloud of accusation, and to our community."

The focus of the grand jury has not been disclosed due to the state code of criminal procedure, as per People. However, in Thursday's report, much of the blame was placed on the former police chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, who was terminated in the wake of the shooting.

The filings about the Uvalde shooting also included that some officers' actions "may have been influenced by policy and training deficiencies." Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated in a press release that,

"The victims and survivors of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School deserved better. As a consequence of failed leadership, training, and policies, 33 students and three of their teachers, many of whom had been shot, were trapped in a room with an active shooter for over an hour as law enforcement officials remained outside."

The attorney added that they "hope to honor the victims and survivors by working together to try to prevent anything like this from happening again, here or anywhere." As per AP News, Garland believes that "lives would've been saved and people would've survived" during the Uvalde shooting had law enforcement confronted the shooter swiftly by widely accepted practices in an active-shooter situation.

The Justice Department's report, however, did not address any potential criminal charges. 67 out of the 300 people summoned appeared in the 38th Judicial District Court, according to the Uvalde Leader-News. 12 of the 67 people were selected to serve on the jury, which is expected to last at least six months.