Texas state senator sues state for records on Uvalde shooting

Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) is suing the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) for denying him records relating to last month’s Uvalde elementary school shooting.

The senator announced Wednesday he is suing the department after filing an open records request asking for information authorities have obtained about the deadly Robb Elementary School shooting, which left 21 people dead. 

Gutierrez said he filed the request on May 31, with the department having 10 days by law to respond to the request.

The Department of Public Safety has not sought an attorney general opinion regarding the request and their failure to do so means the documents, by law, are presumed “to be subject to required public disclosure and must be released,” a statement from the state lawmaker says.

“In the wake of this massacre, the State of Texas has completely failed to provide the community of Uvalde with truthful answers. Weeks have come and gone, and yet families who lost their children have not been told by their government the basic information about who was on site as their children bled, what tools were at their disposal to stop the gunman, and exactly why they decided to wait instead of act,” Gutierrez said. 

Uvalde authorities have come under harsh scrutiny for their response to the shooting after police were shown to have waited around an hour before confronting the shooter inside the school and were restraining parents who tried to take matters into their own hands. 

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said he was “misled” about the initial police response to the shooting and promised every official would be investigated.

The Hill has reached out to the state’s Department of Public Safety for comment.