A former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper recently hired by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District was fired Thursday after it became public she was one of the first officers to respond to the May 24th shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The school district’s decision came less than 24 hours after CNN reported on Crimson Elizondo’s employment status. The outlet also published body cam footage that shows Elizondo saying after the shooting “if my son had been in there, I would not have been outside. I promise you that.”
Elizondo was one of nearly 400 officers who responded to the attack, the deadliest school shooting in Texas history. It took law enforcement agents over 70 minutes to breach one of the classrooms and kill the 18-year-old gunman.
In a statement to reporters Thursday afternoon, UCISD spokesperson Anne Marie Espinoza said the district was “deeply distressed by the information that was disclosed yesterday evening concerning one of our recently hired employees, Crimson Elizondo.”
“We sincerely apologize to the victim’s families and the greater Uvalde community for the pain that this revelation has caused,” Espinoza said. “Ms. Elizondo’s statement in the audio is not consistent with the District’s expectations.”
It’s unclear when Elizondo was hired with the school district. But, according to CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, DPS told the district on July 28 that Crimson was under investigation by the Department’s Office of the Inspector General due to “actions inconsistent with training and Department requirements.”
After the news broke, Brett Cross, the father of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, said in a tweet the latest update furthers his point “that UCISD administrators do not give a flying f*** about us or our kids. They knowingly hired her.”
Cross is part of a group of parents and community members who have been protesting outside the school district’s headquarters for nine consecutive days.
On Wednesday, Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old Lexi Rubio, pledged in a tweet that those who failed her daughter “will never know peace!”
After the news of Elizondo’s firing on Thursday, Mata-Rubio went on Twitter again.
“If you won’t do your job, we’ll do it for you,” Mata-Rubio said. “Elizondo terminated ? Next…”
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