First tonight,
accountability after you valdy.
It's been nearly four months
since 19 fourth graders and two
teachers were murdered inside Rob
Elementary School in Uvalde, TX.
Since May 24th, the actions of
responding law enforcement agencies
have really been under a microscope.
Officers waited in that school hallway
for 77 minutes as the gunman remained
in the classroom with the victims.
Multiple government agencies have
launched investigations into the police
response to find out if any officer
should face disciplinary action.
Or criminal charges.
One of the responding agency that's
begun to investigate its officers is
the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Today, Cave you senior reporter
Tony Poletski sat down with DPS
director Steven Mccraw for his first
in-depth television interview since
the tragedy happened in Uvalde,
and Tony joins us in studio tonight
with excerpts from that interview.
Tony? I can only imagine just being
there for that conversation. It
was a wide-ranging,
extensive conversation and
certainly with all of these
conversations that we've been having,
the documents that we have received,
the videos we have seen are learning
continues to grow about the flawed
law enforcement response that day.
Certainly there have been a lot of fingers
pointed at the Uvalda School District
police as well as the Uvalda city police,
particularly the school district.
Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
But one of the questions I asked
Steve Mccraw today was basically,
why didn't DPS take over the scene
as it was unfolding on May 24th?
And let's listen to what he had to say.
Why do you suspect they didn't
do more to really find out why?
Why not be more assertive when when there
is possibly someone with a high-powered
weapon on a on a school campus?
I mean, we know,
we know law enforcement can be quite
assertive or aggressive when they want to be,
so why did they not bring that to bear?
In this case
there's no question it
should be brought to bear.
As mentioned before, you don't stop
until the threat is terminated.
Plain and simple.
And that didn't happen.
Can say is that you don't immediately
question the information.
The best information is always inside
and it's the arriving officers and
it's going to be the on scene command.
That's the best information you can get.
And we traditionally rely on that
information to make decisions.
And when a decision's been made
and and information is relayed
that the subject is contained,
that's a barricaded subject
that we have time and do the,
the usual situations where you call
out the individual, you call for SWAT.
All these things are consistent
with a barricaded subject.
It looks like that.
And frankly,
you know law enforcement,
we don't question that based upon
the ones that have the most information,
the best information.
That's always going to be the ranking
official that's first on the scene
and there happens to be in the
hallway where the the attack occurred.
Tony, still here with us.
We're about four months out
from this all happening.
And as you mentioned going
into that sound bite,
multiple agencies responded.
This is just one part of the
equation here, isn't it? Keep
in mind, DPS had the second highest number
of officers on the scene that day, 91.
the US Border Patrol, though, actually
had the most officers there that day.
We know that the Border Patrol has said
they are doing an internal inquiry.
DPS is doing an administrative review
of the performance. Of its officers,
as well as the city of Vivaldi,
has hired an outside consultant to
review the actions of its officers to
determine whether or not they violated
any department policies and should
face any sort of disciplinary action.
And we really haven't heard much
outside of this interview with DPS,
the other entities not really saying a
whole lot. And in recent days
we have seen the attention on
DPS frankly continue to grow,
which was why this conversation.
So important with Steve Mccraw today.
Another aspect of our conversation
today is that we've seen this wildly
shifting narrative that started on
May 24th with law enforcement and
the governor saying that police
responded heroically that day.
We now know that that is not what happened.
I talked to Steve Mccraw about
that today and the origins of that.
He called it a myth that police were heroes.
Let's listen to what I want to ask you.
Because you mentioned it as well,
this idea that sprang forth in
the hours and and first couple
of days after the shooting.
Your personnel said it
publicly and in interviews,
the governor frankly said it.
Federal authorities said it as
well and that is this idea that
the police officers and other law
enforcement personnel acted heroically.
How and why in the world was
that something that so quickly
got disseminated and yet was
so terribly wrong
wasn't the same briefing that the governor
was and senators were and and congressmen
and certainly local elected officials
and others and and and frankly you know,
obviously the first reported.
Information, OK, was that there was,
there was 500 children were rescued
as a result of the brave actions of
law enforcement and there was no real
reason to question that initially, OK.
In terms of where the focus of the
investigation and immediately from
our standpoint, anybody standpoint is,
is the victim identification
and and family notification.
Those are the priority of priorities
and to get get information,
we're depending on information
that came from OK,
those on the scene and those in command.
Once at scene and that information
was relayed at a particular meeting.
In fact it was Wednesday morning
briefing that I sat in and in fact
one of our our regional director,
Victor Escalon, you know,
did the briefing,
you know after a a local official
passed out and was able unable to do it.
He was asked to do the briefing and
he related exactly what he was told,
OK by two individuals.
I'm not going to mention their names,
OK,
but the exact information he
provided in that regard.
Well, Tony, for so many people,
it's almost inconceivable that
the law enforcement that was there
that day were hailed as heroes.
Now that we've heard from the parents,
we've seen the video where they
stood in the hallway for 77 minutes.
I know the backlash has been swift.
It's been brutal,
and it is still going on. People
describe being very that that this idea that
police performed heroically was galling.
To them and and has really piled on the
amount of anger and upset in that community.
And so to that end,
I did ask Colonel Mccraw and in our
final question today whether or not he
had a message for the people of Vivaldi.
Any closing remarks to the
to the community of Vivaldi,
to the citizens of Texas with regard
to the performance of your agency that
day and and any pledge going forward,
well we'll we'll hold everybody
accountable in department.
We don't didn't live up to the expectations,
not just criminal culpability,
OK, or even misconduct, OK.
But certainly anything that we think that
they lacked in performance we're going
to do that plain and simple and it's
not our troops expect that we routinely
engage in that type of accountability.
The only thing I can't say that really,
really matters is is that,
and we'll certainly share that information as
soon with the public and the family members.
I'd prefer to share it with
the family members first.
I don't expect to that they're going
to appreciate, you know, whatever.
And there's never enough.
I can never say enough and do enough for
those family members and the community.
A fair point. As we move forward now,
we know that seven of those
DPS troopers are part of this
investigation, under investigation.
What happens from this day forward, Tony,
this is important.
There has been a lot of conversation
about whether or not some of those
responding officers could face criminal
charges brought by a grand jury and ivaldi,
of course, spearheaded by the District
Attorney in that community.
The Colonel and I talked about that today.
He did not say whether or not.
He believes that there will be
charges or should be charges,
but rest assured,
he absolutely gave the impression
that the DA in that community
is strongly considering it,
and essentially gave the impression that
he would not be surprised if it happened,
did not go as far as to say
he believes it should,
but definitely believes that it could.
All right. Tony, thank you so
much for being with us and thank
you for that sit down interview.
And Tony had many more
questions for director Mccraw,
you could in fact watch the entire
45 minute interview right now at
kw.com on our K View YouTube page
and on K View plus that's available
on Roku and Amazon Fire TV.