The city is demanding that Uvalde County District Christina Mitchell share evidence and findings obtained by her investigation into the Robb Elementary School shooting.
The City of Uvalde has filed a lawsuit against local District Attorney Christina Mitchell, demanding that her office release investigative materials related to the May mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
According to ABC News, the city’s lawsuit is the third claim related to the shooting filed in the last week alone.
In the other two lawsuits, Uvalde is named as a defendant.
The most recent petition, submitted by Uvalde officials in district court, argues that the city needs access to Mitchell’s investigative reports, including officer body-camera footage and first-responder incident reports.
The city has also hired its own private investigator, Jesse Prado, to conduct and complete an internal affairs review of the Uvalde Police Department.
However, Prado’s ability to conduct the review has allegedly been hindered by a lack of readily available evidence.
“We hope this lawsuit will allow the City’s investigation into the conduct of its officers to be completed so as to give the community and families the answers they deserve,” a Uvalde spokesperson said in a statement.
The city, notes ABC News, recently announced an independent investigation into alleged police misconduct and inaction.
During the Robb Elementary School shooting, the gunman was purportedly allowed to enter classrooms and roam the hallways for an estimated 77 minutes.
While the shooter was inside the school, over 300 law enforcement personnel from various local, state, and federal agencies stood outside, refusing to enter the premises.
In its lawsuit, Uvalde claims that Mitchell has allowed other agencies to access her evidence and reports but has refused to share her findings with the city.
“The Uvalde community has waited entirely too long for answers and transparency with regard to the Robb Elementary shooting incident,” the city said.
CNN reports that, aside from the city’s lawsuit, survivors of the shooting have also filed a class action seeking an estimated $27 billion in compensatory damages.
The lawsuit names the city, its police department, the Uvalde Consolidated School District, the Uvalde Police Department, and others as defendants.
The survivors’ complaint recounts how parents were forced to wait over an hour as police officers failed to take any decisive action to prevent the shootings.
“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,” the lawsuit claims.
Another group of survivors and victims are also suing firearm manufacturer Daniel Defense and Uvalde gun store Oasis Outback for $6 billion, saying that both companies failed to responsibly market and retail firearms.
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