Gun Violence Erupts Again in Uvalde, Texas, Two Injured and Four Detained
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2022
Just two days after the first day of school in Uvalde, Texas, gun violence erupted once again in the southwest Texas community of 15,000 people on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at approximately 5:30 p.m. when a shooting occurred at Uvalde Memorial Park, located at 401 E. Main Street, about a mile or so from the tragic Robb Elementary School shooting of May 24, 2022 that killed 19 students and two teachers, resulting in at least two juveniles injured by the gunfire that were transported to hospitals in San Antonio, Texas for medical treatment while the Uvalde Police Department has detained four juveniles suspected of being involved in the shooting.
According to a Uvalde Police Department press release issued at approximately 5:30 p.m., police officers responded to Uvalde Memorial Park regarding a shooting at the public park.
The citizens of Uvalde and across the United States were stunned by the news of the shooting at the public park located near the central business district, city hall, county courthouse, Sheriff’s Department, and downtown following the recent tragedy at Robb Elementary School on May 24.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, Jr. stated a fight between rival juvenile gang members escalated and one of the juveniles pulled out a gun and began shooting. McLaughlin noted the alleged juvenile gangs are the same ones that have gotten in trouble before, but they just keep letting them go. McLaughlin opined that authorities needed to take a “hard look at how we treat juveniles with firearms.” He suggested that juveniles with guns acting as adults should face more stringent penalties like adults for similar offenses.
The new gun violence incident at Uvalde Memorial Park comes at a critical juncture in the community as it is still reeling from the tragic May 24 Robb Elementary incident and struggles with trauma and mental health issues facing school children, parents, and the community. This new juvenile gun violence incident could not have occurred at a worst time when the community has worked so hard to regain trust and confidence in returning children to school as well as public security issues from law enforcement entities after the May 24 Robb Elementary fiasco.
Uvalde Police Department detained three juveniles and had another juvenile under questioning late in the evening of September 8.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed additional Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers to Uvalde, in addition to the already large presence of DPS officers at the public schools due to the start of the new school year. In a statement released by Governor Abbott after the Uvalde Memorial Park shooting incident of September 8, Abbott stated “After speaking with the mayor and the county judge about the immediate need for more law enforcement support, I have directed the Department of Public Safety to conduct patrol operations in the gang hotspots, send an additional six DPS trooper units to work around the clock, and begin coordinating an ant-gang effort with the city.”
Abbott noted that DPS will work together with the Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office to target five gangs known to be operating in Uvalde, but did not identify the gangs.
The new Uvalde Memorial Park shooting incident comes on the heels of widespread criticism of law enforcement authorities handling of the Robb Elementary shooting incident that took 77 minutes to breach the classroom where the 18 year old gunman armed with an AR-15 assault rifle was in and had so much time to cause the 21 deaths at the school.
An least 377 law enforcement officers from multiple entities responded to the Robb Elementary shooting on May 24, including from the Uvalde Consolidated School District, Uvalde Police Department, Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department, DPS troopers, Texas Rangers, Operation Lone Star, U. S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, and others. Several officers have been terminated, suspended, or placed on leave arising from law enforcement’s failure to stop the lone gunman at Robb Elementary, including Uvalde School District Police Chief Peter Arredondo who was terminated by the school board, the Uvalde acting police chief was suspended, and now five DPS troopers are under an internal investigation with two suspended.
The Uvalde Police Department is investigating the new Uvalde Memorial Park shooting incident of September 8.
