Uvalde county commissioner says he wants FBI investigation into Texas school shooting response

Ronnie Garza, a county commissioner in Uvalde, Texas, said on Sunday he would welcome an FBI investigation into Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

When asked by moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation” if security failures led to Tuesday’s massacre, Garza said he supported a letter sent by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), who represents San Antonio, to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking the agency to launch an independent probe to clear up inconsistent depictions of law enforcement actions.

Local police have faced scrutiny for their handling of the shooting and inconsistent accounts about law enforcement’s actions.

“I welcome that investigation,” Garza said. “I think we need to learn more. As tragic as this may seem, we need to learn from this, and parents deserve answers.”

Garza said “multiple factors,” including a lack of security and training, may have contributed to the toll of Tuesday’s shooting. After authorities had previously said a law enforcement officer confronted the gunman before he entered the school, officials have since indicated the shooter entered the building unobstructed. 

“Perhaps he was at another campus when the shooting started,” Garza said when asked about the whereabouts of the school resource officer.

But Garza cautioned that although he supported the investigative efforts, the Uvalde community still needed to mourn the immense loss facing the town of roughly 15,000 people.

“It’s easy to point fingers right now. It’s easy to play the blame game. But our community I think needs to focus on healing right now,” he said.