‘Trying to help’: Police officers from across Texas converge on Uvalde in wake of massacre at Robb Elementary

UVALDE — Police officers from across Texas are out in force in Uvalde, providing a conspicuous law enforcement presence at funerals for the 19 children and two teachers killed in the massacre at Robb Elementary School. Out-of-town officers began to converge on the city after the May 24 shooting. Although they say they’re here to support Uvalde police, the exact nature of their role is unclear. Police departments with a visible presence in Uvalde include Fort Worth, Lubbock, Del Rio, Allen, Conroe, Pearland, Grand Prairie, College Station and Bedford. Many of those departments do not appear to be operating here under any formal agreement with the city of Uvalde. The outside officers have been especially visible at funerals for victims of the massacre. Reporters have been barred from attending the services and have been limited to designated viewing areas. Although the number of journalists in town has dwindled, interactions with police have become tense. Officers have threatened to arrest journalists for walking on public streets near funerals. Police also have been seen mingling with motorcycle club members, who have interfered with journalists’ efforts to observe and photograph funerals by physically surrounding them and obstructing their view, even in designated media areas. On ExpressNews.com: Remembering the victims of Uvalde massacre Outside Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery, where two of the slain children were interred on Friday, two police officers from Bedford, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, appeared to direct mourners away from two Hearst Newspapers reporters. The officers at one point urged mourners to “walk faster” so they could avoid the journalists, who were standing where police had directed them to wait. Bedford police did not respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, a uniformed Lubbock police officer watched as bikers from a group called Guardians of the Children surrounded a Hearst Newspapers reporter who was walking in a public street near a funeral. The confrontation was captured on a video posted to Twitter. A spokesman for the Lubbock Police Department, Antonio Leal, said the officer was “acting in his official capacity providing traffic direction for a funeral procession in Uvalde.” “Our officers, including the one depicted in the video, are operating under the direction of the command center located in Uvalde and not in coordination with any other organizations,” Leal said. He added: “The Lubbock Police Department believes strongly in the First Amendment protections provided to the media and citizen journalists alike to cover and share news from any incident, whether in our jurisdiction or not.” In Del Rio, Lt. Hubert Smith said his department has had a pair of two-officer teams in Uvalde since the shooting. The teams — a detective and a patrol officer — have been providing security and responding to calls for police assistance, among other assignments, he said. On HoustonChronicle.com: A reconstruction of how the Uvalde massacre unfolded Asked if controlling the media was part of their mission, Smith replied, “I haven’t heard anything about the media, keeping the media away.” Told of the incident in which bikers surrounded the reporter, Smith said, “That is something we will not tolerate.” “We’re trying to help out with what they need, but as far as my understanding, we’re not engaging as far as blacking out the press or anything like that. I hope not,” Smith said. Lt. Chris Daniels, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Police Department, said 12 of its officers volunteered to go to Uvalde, some 350 miles away, after the Texas Police Chiefs Association issued a statewide appeal for assistance for Uvalde. The department has been rotating those officers in and out of Uvalde in groups of five to six. Fort Worth is paying their salaries and a per diem while they’re there. The officers are working in Uvalde without a formal memorandum of understanding, Daniels said. “Our approach has been to ensure a supervisor is part of each team who is responsible for ensuring that any operation involving the FWPD is in compliance with our policy,” he said. Among other duties, the officers provided support during President Joe Biden’s visit to Uvalde on Sunday. Daniels said that “we have no agreement whatsoever with any biker group, nor have they been deputized.” It is not clear when the Fort Worth police officers will go back home. Daniels said the department is “evaluating our position every few days.” He added, “Uvalde and the local agencies are encouraging all other agencies to stay as long as possible, since the funerals will be going on for some time.” Asked to describe the officers’ mission, Daniels said it was to “provide public safety for the Uvalde community and security for the families of the victims for funeral services, as well as security for the local officials. “There is no directive to ‘control’ the media, but only to ensure safety and privacy for the families as they grieve their losses,” he said. The Fort Worth officers and other visiting law enforcement personnel are staying at the Alto Frio Baptist Camp and Conference Center in Leakey, 40 miles north of Uvalde. Alto Frio says it is hosting 150 to 200 Texas Rangers, county sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement officers. On its website, the center encourages donations “to help cover the cost of caring for these officers and support staff.” Among the out-of-town officers are four from Lubbock, 375 miles away. Leal, the police department spokesman, said the officers are expected to return home on Monday. They receive assignments from a command center in Uvalde, but follow policies established by their department, Leal said. Lubbock is paying their salaries and a per diem. The city of Uvalde is footing the bill for food and lodging. The Allen Police Department, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said on its Facebook page May 27 that it was sending six officers and two dispatchers to Uvalde “to assist in any way they can.” Marked patrol vehicles from the College Station Police Department have been observed fulfilling a very specific role: standing sentry outside the home of Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. College Station police Lt. Rodney Sigler said the department sent four officers and a supervisor to Uvalde for several days after authorities there asked for help “due to the magnitude of the incident.” He said they were given assignments by local authorities. Arredondo was the on-scene incident commander during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, and he has been widely condemned for holding back the assembled police officers for more than an hour while 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos, armed with an assault-style rifle, was holed up in a pair of adjoining classrooms filled with children and two teachers. State officials say Arredondo decided that after Ramos fired an initial heavy fusillade, the crisis shifted from an “active-shooter” situation to a “barricaded subject” situation, that children were no longer in danger and that there was time to await the arrival of more officers with specialized equipment. That was “the wrong decision, period,” Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a news briefing last week. “There’s no excuse for that. From what we know, we believe there should have been an entry as soon as you can.” Ultimately, a Border Patrol tactical unit stormed the classroom and killed Ramos. Arredondo has made no public comment on his handling of the incident. julian.gill@chron.com - Morning of chaos: A reconstruction of how the tragedy unfolded at Uvalde - Remembering the lives lost in the Uvalde school shooting - Funerals for children killed in mass shooting continue in grieving Uvalde as police, bikers block press - Texas politicians shared horror and grief over Uvalde. Here's how much money they took from the NRA. - A shattered Texas town: Heartbreaking photos from the growing Uvalde memorials - Why was the head of a six-person force for Uvalde CISD in charge of the mass shooting response? - As Uvalde gunman was inside the school, parents screamed outside. Here's what we know about those 40 minutes. - Tomlinson: Like many others, I'm afraid of my fellow Americans with guns — so I bought my own

‘Trying to help’: Police officers from across Texas converge on Uvalde in wake of massacre at Robb Elementary

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