SAN ANTONIO — Nineteen families whose loved ones were killed or injured in the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary announced a settlement with the City of Uvalde, which includes a number of stipulations and commitments. The announcement came two days before the two-year mark of the shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers.
The terms aim to help the families and larger Uvalde community continue to heal from the tragic shooting that took place on May 24, 2022, and the ensuing response from law enforcement.
In addition to a $2 million payment to the families, the City of Uvalde also committed to a number of policy changes and transparency initiatives in the aftermath of Robb. The $2 million is coming from the city's insurance coverage.
Lawyers for the families said Wednesday the modest financial settlement was an effort to work within the city's limited funds and prevent the city from going bankrupt.
The agreement between the families and the city was a year in the making, according to attorneys.
"For 77 minutes, 26 members of the Uvalde Police Department failed to confront an 18 year-old kid armed with an AR-15, and no disciplinary action has ever been taken—no firings, no demotions, no transparency—and the families remain eager for that to change. But the healing process must begin, and the commitments made today by the city are a step in that critical process,” said Josh Koskoff, an attorney for the families.
>Watch the full press conference here:
“We’re tired. Of course, they could do a lot more. I can’t emphasize this enough, it’s not about the money," said Javier Cazares, father of Jackie Cazares, who was killed at Robb Elementary. "We just do our best. It's an uphill battle and we're going to keep on going."
It's a fight for justice and accountability Jerry Mata, father of Robb victim Tess Mata, hopes leads to monumental change as this latest legal action proceeds.
“My daughter sat there for 77 minutes crying asking for help while these guys get medals. I don’t get that. Where is the justice. Come on," Mata said. “We’re still going to be fighting. It was still failure."
In addition, the families announced legal action against the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), via lawsuits against 92 individual officers as required by law, "for the shocking and extensive failures of DPS that day." The lawsuit also names Uvalde CISD and several key former employees, including then-Robb Elementary Principal Mandy Gutierrez and then-Police Chief Pete Arredondo, as defendants.
DPS officials said it "does not discuss pending litigation" and provided no further comment to KENS 5. In a slightly longer statement, Uvalde CISD officials said they acknowledged the lawsuit and "remains committed to supporting our community" before saying it wouldn't comment on specifics.
"The district continues to be open to exploring a resolution involving all the families and individuals impacted by this tragedy," Uvalde CISD officials said.
Connecticut-based firm Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder and San Antonio-based Guerra LLP both assisted with the settlement. Koskoff, Koskoff and Bieder was involved in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, playing a pivotal part in the $73 million settlement reached with Remington, the maker of the rifle used in that tragedy.
During the press conference, Josh Koskoff railed against the slow police response during the shooting, and various local, state and national officials who failed to hold anyone accountable or take action to change policies.
“There is no risk more foreseeable to our children than classroom shootings. Until the corporate enablers of mass shootings start prioritizing our children above their profits, and until state and federal governments get serious about prevention, the immense burden of protecting children in schools will continue to fall on local communities like the City of Uvalde," Koskoff said.
In response to the settlement announcement, the City of Uvalde released this statement:
“Today, we are thankful to join the victims’ families in arriving at an agreement that will allow us to remember the Robb Elementary tragedy while moving forward together as a community to bring healing and restoration to all those affected. We will forever be grateful to the victims’ families for working with us over the past year to cultivate an environment of community-wide healing that honors the lives and memories of those we tragically lost. May 24th is our community’s greatest tragedy.”
Police training
The settlement includes efforts to rebuild and repair the Uvalde Police Department by implementing a new “fitness for duty” standard for Uvalde police officers, to be developed in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.
“For two long years, we have languished in pain and without any accountability from the law enforcement agencies and officers who allowed our families to be destroyed that day. This settlement reflects a first good faith effort by the City of Uvalde to begin rebuilding trust in the systems that failed to protect us,” said Veronica Luevanos, whose daughter Jailah and nephew Jayce were killed.
The settlement also includes a commitment from the Uvalde Police Department to provide enhanced training for current and future officers. There will also be an agreement to coordinate with the families concerning the public safety risk and burden on police due to the prevalence of gun violence.
Day of Remembrance and memorial
In addition to the policy changes which are aimed at preventing a repeat of failures by law enforcement, the settlement also includes stipulations to support the Uvalde community long process of healing.
The City of Uvalde has committed to establishing May 24 as an annual Day of Remembrance. The city will create a committee to coordinate with families to design a permanent memorial at the Plaza to be paid for by the city. The City of Uvalde will also continue to support mental health services for the families, the survivors and anyone in the community that needs it. Work will continue with third party entities to bring new developments for children and families in Uvalde.
Following the shooting, the families’ grief was made even worse by the city’s restrictions and maintenance issues at gravesites of the victims at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery. This happened even though a lot of money was donated for that purpose. Because of this, the City will now regularly maintain the graves at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery. They will also create two new positions on the Cemetery Advisory Board to be filled by family members of the Robb Elementary tragedy.
The city will also reimburse the families for the amount they spent repairing and maintaining their family member's gravesite over the last two years. The city will also provide the families updated accounting regarding the donations received in connection to the tragedy at the school.
Other legal action
Previous lawsuits filed in relation to the Uvalde shooting include a $27 billion lawsuit announced in November 2022 by parents and guardians of children who were on campus during the shooting but weren't in the classrooms when the gunman attacked.
Those plaintiffs are suing several entities, including Uvalde police, the City of Uvalde and others.
The city also filed a lawsuit against Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell over failure to release information they said was vital for their internal investigation led by Austin-based detective Jesse Prado; his report ultimately exonerated city personnel who were at the shooting.
According to the lawsuit filed against 92 individual Texas DPS officers, the officers were trained on Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT), the preeminent active shooter response training in the United States. ALERRT dictates that first responders’ main priority in a situation like Robb Elementary is to, first, stop the killing, then stop the dying, then evacuate the injured. Inherent in these best practices is the prioritization of victims or potential victims over the safety of officers.
Robb Elementary students and teachers were diligently trained to follow their own lockdown protocols during a school shooter event: turn off the lights, lock the door and remain absolutely silent. By design, these protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them fully reliant on law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively. The complaint details how the longer law enforcement prolongs a lockdown, the higher the likelihood that students and teachers will be shot, die from their wounds and experience extreme terror and trauma.
Earlier this year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unveiled a 610-page review of the law enforcement response to the shooting at Robb Elementary, confirming that failures at every level–including in leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training–contributed to officers’ inaction for over an hour. The most significant failure that day, according to the DOJ report, was that law enforcement did not treat the incident as an active shooter situation, despite clear knowledge that there was an active shooter inside, and did not use the available resources and equipment to push forward immediately and continuously to eliminate the threat. Instead, the shooter was able to continue the killing spree for over an hour while helpless families waited anxiously outside the school.
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