Uvalde families have filed a $500 million suit against Texas state police just before anniversary of school shooting

Front page of Uvalde Leader-News special
memorial section for Robb Elementary shooting.

On May 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in rural Uvalde, Texas. It was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. school since 2012 when 28 were killed in Sandy Hook, Conn., another small community.

Now, the families of 17 of the 19 fourth-grade children who were shot and killed and two who were wounded have "filed a $500 million federal lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers who were part of the botched law enforcement response," report Acacia Coronado and Jim Vertuno of The Associated Press. "The lawsuit. . . is the latest of several seeking accountability for the law enforcement response. More than 370 federal, state and local officers converged on the scene, but they waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the shooter."

On the day of the attack, once teachers and students realized an active shooter was in their school, they followed active shooter protocols. The state police did not. "The lawsuit notes that state troopers did not follow their active shooter training or confront the shooter," Coronado and Ventuno write. This federal lawsuit is the first "to be filed after a 600-page Justice Department report was released in January that cataloged 'cascading failures' in training, communication, leadership and technology problems that day."

Earlier this week, the families "agreed to a $2 million settlement with the city, under which city leaders promised higher standards and better training for local police," Coronado and Ventuno write. "Families said the settlement was capped at $2 million because they didn't want to bankrupt the city where they still live. . . . The settlement establishes May 24 as an annual day of remembrance, a permanent memorial in the city plaza, and support for mental health services for the families and the greater Uvalde area."

The $500 million federal lawsuit isn't the only active lawsuit brought by families, nor is it the biggest. "A separate lawsuit was filed by different plaintiffs in December 2022 against local and state police, the city, and other schools and law enforcement, seeking at least $27 billion in class-action status for survivors," AP reports. "And at least two other lawsuits have been filed against Georgia-based gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, which made the AR-style rifle used by the gunman."