Robb Elementary School will be torn down, according to Uvalde mayor

Nearly one month after the horrific mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers dead, the decision was made to demolish Robb Elementary School.

The mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, shared the news during a city council meeting on Tuesday evening. After an attendee asked McLaughlin about the fate of the school, McLaughlin confirmed that the school would be torn down.

Related: Uvalde teacher wounded in shooting says he’ll ‘never forgive’ the police for their inaction

“My understanding—I had a discussion with the superintendent—that school will be demolished,” McLaughlin said. “We could never ask a child to go back, or a teacher to go back into that school ever.”

Additionally on Tuesday in a separate meeting, the disappointing Uvalde police response was brought to the table. Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw appeared before the Texas Senate Committee to discuss the controversial decisions of the police department during the mass shooting on May 24. McCraw said he believed officers could have stopped the gunman if the commander had not hesitated in his orders.

“There is compelling evidence that the law enforcement response to the attack at Robb Elementary was an abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned,” McCraw said.

Parents and families of the Uvalde victims have expressed outrage over police inaction once the gunman entered Robb Elementary. One victim and survivor, fourth-grade teacher Arnulfo Reyes, says he’ll “never forgive” the police for the inaction that led to his entire classroom of students getting killed.

“After everything, I get more angry because you have a bulletproof vest. I had nothing,” Reyes says. “You’re supposed to protect and serve—there is no excuse for their actions, and I will never forgive them.”

Reyes says after entering his classroom, the gunman shot him multiple times. He said he played dead after sustaining his injuries, and remained that way during the approximately 80 minutes the shooting continued.

Uvalde police arrived at the school within minutes of the shooting, but waited about an hour before actually confronting the gunman. The police department has come under fire in the days after the shooting. According to the New York Times, Chief Arrendondo of the Uvalde police department didn’t have a radio on him during the shooting, which likely impeded his ability to communicate with police dispatchers. Two supervisors from the department were grazed by bullets fired by the gunman, which led the chief to decide to fall back.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Texas DPS said as many as 19 officers waited for more than an hour in a hallway outside classrooms before a U.S. Border Patrol tactical team finally entered Robb Elementary.

“The officers had weapons, the children had none,” McCraw said during the hearing on Tuesday. “The officers had body armor, the children had none. The officers had training, the subject had none. One hour, 14 minutes, and eight seconds—that is how long the children waited, and the teachers waited, in Room 111 to be rescued.”

Related: In a gut-wrenching speech, Matthew McConaughey displays Uvalde victim’s shoes

“Three minutes after the subject entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor to isolate, distract and neutralize the subject,” McCraw added.

During the city council meeting earlier this week, community members—including family members of the victims—urged Arredondo to resign.

As for the destruction of Robb Elementary, there is no set date on when the demolition will begin or information available about what students and staff can expect for the upcoming school year.

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