The survivors of the shooting which took place on May 24 in Uvalde, Texas, last week presented a class action lawsuit against local and state police, city and other school and police officials for, as stated in the document, delays in confronting the attacker.
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The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Austin and was brought by parents, teachers and school staff members who were at Robb Elementary School when 21 people (19 students and two teachers) were killed in what is the second deadliest school shooting in history in the country.
Multi-billion dollar lawsuit
The court brief seeks a total of $27 billion to be paid to survivors of the Uvalde massacre who suffered "sustained emotional and psychological damages as a result of Defendants conduct and omissions."
According to the lawsuit, the 376 law enforcement officers who came from different agencies to the scene exhibited improper conduct, as they waited more than an hour before entering the building and attempting to put an end to the massacre:
Instead of swiftly implementing an organized and concerted response to an active school shooter who had breached the otherwise ‘secured’ school buildings at Robb Elementary school, the conduct of the three hundred and seventy-six (376) law enforcement officials who were on hand for the exhaustively torturous seventy-seven minutes of law enforcement indecision, dysfunction, and harm, fell exceedingly short of their duty-bound standards.
At this time there are no statements from either the Texas Department of Public Safety or the Uvalde Consolidated School District. In addition, Uvalde officials say they have not yet been served the new lawsuit.
This is not the only legal case they are up against. A mother who lost her son during the shooting also filed charges against several of the same institutions named in the class action lawsuit.
County attorney under scrutiny
Uvalde is also looking for someone to blame for the tragic events at Robb Elementary School. The city decided to hold the county attorney, Christina Mitchell, accountable and filed a lawsuit against her. According to the mayor, Don Mclaughlin, she is blocking access to essential evidence:
The city has been denied access, has been told we can't talk about it, don't publish anything we have, but yet there are news agencies that are getting things left and right that are constantly surprising us.
In these statements, Mclaughlin asserts that the media has information that has not been provided to him. According to the mayor, this information could help the Texan town conclude its investigation within the next 90 to 120 days.
Christina Mitchell Busbee accused of blocking information
District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee has been under public scrutiny for withholding information about the case for some time now. According to what the Texas Tribune reports, this is preventing an independent investigator from reviewing documents needed to decide whether internal disciplinary action should be taken at the Texas Department of Public Safety:
Despite the City of Uvalde’s efforts to amicably obtain the necessary investigative materials for its ongoing Uvalde Police Department’s Internal Affairs investigation, the District Attorney has blocked the City’s ability to obtain critical information to assess its officers’ actions and compliance with police department policies and expectations. From day one, the city’s focus is on helping the entire Uvalde community, parents who lost children, children who lost parents, and young survivors navigate through the healing process.
Daniel Defense will also be held accountable for the killing
The company that manufactured the weapon used during the Uvalde shooting, Daniel Defense, may also face some charges for what happened. As Infobae recalls, a group of survivors sued the company and the store where the assailant purchased the rifle, Oasis Outback. The lawsuit demands the payment of $6 billion each for damages.
Daniel Defense responded in a statement posted on Twitter denying any liability and asserting that the " lawsuit is yet another in a growing line of blatant and legally unfounded attemps to bankrupt the firearms industry."
A statement from Daniel Defense's Founder and CEO. pic.twitter.com/zUWpVPQGEE
- Daniel Defense (@DanielDefense) December 2, 2022
