The families of victims, teachers, staff, and students have now filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court – Western District of Texas (Austin Division).
The lawsuit alleges, what we already know about how police in Uvalde dropped the ball tremendously in securing the school from the active shooter that killed 21 people including 19 students and two teachers. Plaintiff’s are seeking over $27 billion in compensation.
The lawsuit names the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, Uvalde School Police Department, (including Chief Pedro Arrendondo), and Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as others as defendants.
From the complaint:
“In administering the schools under its control, CISD employed its own police
department (“CISD-PD”). Not only had CISD-PD undertaken a state sponsored and mandated
active shooter response training, but that CISD had additionally promulgated its own required
protocols and standards to employ in the event of an active shooter on one of its campuses. Despite
such preparedness, the CISD police department, along with similarly trained law enforcement
agencies including the City of Uvalde’s police department (“UPD”), the Texas’ Department of
Public Safety(“DPS”), San Antonio Police Department’s SWAT unit, Uvalde’s Sheriff’s office,
and the United States Department of Homeland Security(“Border Patrol” & “BORTAC”),
fundamentally strayed from conducting themselves in conformity with what they knew to be the
well-established protocols and standards for responding to an active shooter.
The case no. 1:22-cv-01252 and is filed in Federal Court.
