AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), suggested Thursday that two DPS employees previously disciplined for their response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde will be the only employees disciplined. Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies took more than 77 minutes to enter the classroom and take down the gunman.

In September, the department announced seven DPS officials were under investigation for the response that day. Two of those who were under investigation have faced disciplinary actions and one retired. The unnamed remaining four have been cleared of wrongdoing, DPS communications director Travis Considine confirmed to Nexstar.

To date, one responding DPS officer has been terminated for the response that day — DPS Sgt. Juan Maldonado.

A second DPS employee, Texas Ranger Ryan Kindell, is suspended and in the process of being terminated. However, Kindell has the ability to appeal the decision to both McCraw and then to the Public Safety Commission.

According to the Texas House investigative committee report on the school shooting, 91 of the 376 responding law enforcement officials on the scene that day were DPS employees.

Nexstar asked McCraw about the investigation into the shooting and accountability Thursday after he testified to the Senate Finance Committee about budget needs.

When asked by reporters if more DPS employees will face discipline, McCraw said “no, just the two,” in reference to Maldonado and Kindell, suggesting that no further DPS employees will face repercussions for their actions at Robb Elementary.

Officers from other agencies have faced scrutiny for what a Texas House report classified as a “chaotic and uncoordinated” response on May 24, in which 19 children and two teachers died.

Two Uvalde CISD officials were terminated, including Pete Arredondo, the former school police chief. The district also fired Crimson Elizondo, a former DPS trooper who was one of the seven under investigation, for her response that day.

Elizondo had previously retired from DPS and was later hired as a police officer for the Uvalde school district. After the news of Elizondo’s employment at Uvalde CISD was revealed by CNN, the district fired Elizondo and then suspended its entire police department.

McCraw said the Texas Rangers’ investigation into the shooting has been completed and handed over to the Uvalde District Attorney’s office. When asked for further specifics about the investigation, McCraw said he cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.

“I’m not going to discuss that, because it is an ongoing criminal investigation,” he said. “It’s an ongoing, pending criminal matter and is being reviewed by the District Attorney. And I presume at some point in time, when she makes a determination presented to a grand jury until that’s completed, the investigation is not completed. Our portion of it is completed unless she finds other areas that [she’d] like us to elaborate on.”

On Jan. 6, Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell said in an email to Nexstar “I do not anticipate receiving the completed DPS Texas Rangers investigation until the spring, at the earliest. It is not uncommon for an investigation of this magnitude to take at least a year.”

Nexstar has followed up about whether she has now received the Texas Rangers investigation from DPS, but has not heard back.

McCraw has faced pressure from families of the Uvalde victims to step down from his role as the leader of DPS. Nexstar asked the director if he plans to retire this year and he said he does not plan to any time soon.

“Unfortunately for DPS, they are stuck with me for the time being,” McCraw said. “I will be here awhile.”

Bill in response to Uvalde would add extra officer to every Texas school

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, announced another round of school safety legislation Tuesday, while surrounded by families who lost children in the shootings at Robb Elementary and Santa Fe High School.

“This is personal to me,” said Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde and has been the most vocal public official in advocating for the families’ needs after the May 24 massacre. “These people deserve more than what they got. Their little babies deserve more than what they got. And, by God, we need to do something.”

Gutierrez plans to invite the families to the Capitol every week to announce new batches of school safety bills. Tuesday brought three new announcements relating to hardening schools, funding mental healthcare, and remembering victims of mass gun violence.

Senate Bill 737 would create the Texas School Patrol with 10,000 officers — enough to add an additional officer to every public school in Texas. Sen. Gutierrez said it would cost $750 million.

“Each parent should be able to send their kids to school knowing that they’re going to be able to pick them up at the end of the day,” he said. “We can afford to do this. And we should do this.”

Sen. Gutierrez also filed an appropriations request for $2 billion for mental healthcare and $2 billion for school hardening measures. He argued the state should save the $32.7 billion budget surplus for these needs, pushing back against the all-but-certain plan from top Republican leaders to spend a bulk of it on property tax cuts.

“There’s $18 billion sitting in Rainy Day,” he said, referring to the state’s savings account. “We keep hearing about this notion that we want to give property tax relief. Take it out of the $18 billion. That surplus wasn’t something that Republicans created. Let’s spend it on relief for healthcare, relief for rural mental health.”

SB 738 would require the Texas DPS to ensure local law enforcement has emergency radio capabilities, addressing the failures in communication that contributed to a delayed response at Robb Elementary. It also requires mass shooting training for all public safety entities. The requirements only apply to counties “impacted by or adjacent to Operation Lone Star,” the governor’s border security initiative.

“If you’re going to spend money on Operation Lone Star, you better spend money on the radios for the two counties north of the border,” Sen. Gutierrez said. “Not one damn radio worked inside that building. Cops were out there playing telephone for 77 minutes trying to figure out what was going on inside and outside. A complete and utter failure. Yes, this is a story about terror. It’s also a story about rural neglect.”

Senate Concurrent Resolution 15 would “honor the victims and survivors of mass gun violence” with a new memorial on the south lawn of the Capitol. The memorial would replace the Confederate Soldiers Monument and relocate it to the Austin State Cemetery.

“We plea for these changes, that you hear us, and that you see us and you acknowledge the pain that these families that stand behind me,” said Christina Delgado, an advocate with Community Justice Action Fund and Santa Fe High School parent.

Texans have mixed responses to President’s State of the Union

Texas Republicans in Congress voiced their disapproval of President Biden’s border policy. Several members openly heckled the President during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Shouts of “secure the border,” interrupted the President at a few points during the address. He waited until later in the speech to talk about immigration and the border, instead focusing much of his address on economic issues.

When he did touch on immigration, Biden defended his administration’s policies and said it’s on Congress to act.

“American border problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts,” Biden said. “If we don’t pass my comprehensive immigration reform, at least pass my plan to provide the equipment and officers to secure the border.”

That comment drew head-shaking and shouts of disapproval from many Republicans in the chamber. Meanwhile, Democrats stood and applauded.

After the address, Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar praised part of the President’s plan to fight drug smuggling at the border.

“One of the things I liked that he mentioned was putting more technology at the ports of entry,” said Cuellar, referring to plans to put new large-scale scanners to check trucks and other vehicles crossing the border.

“If you see where the fentanyl and meth comes in, they come through ports of entry,” Cuellar said, “That technology is going to be very important to make sure that we stop those drugs from coming into the U.S.

Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican who represents a district in the Rio Grande Valley, was critical of the President’s comments.

“I was very disappointed with the President’s speech, specifically on the fact that he spent more time talking about hotel fees and baggage fees than the open border policy that he himself created,” said De La Cruz in an interview after the address.

During his address, Biden touted efforts to fight excessive fees on travel and event tickets. He also renewed his call for a tax on billionaires to help reduce the deficit. Republicans were critical of the economic message.

“What I heard tonight, effectively was the President declaring war on middle-class Americans, on hard-working families, on the free market, on our oil and gas industry, on so many things that are vital to this country,” said East Texas Republican Nathaniel Moran after the address. “That’s not the message we needed to hear.”

Texas passed missing persons reporting law, but does it work?

Susanna Arroyo pulled up a picture on her phone. It was the most recent one she had of Seferino Ybarra: a driver’s license photo.

She started walking toward a bus stop along Cameron Road in east Austin, showing it to anyone who crossed her path — anyone who might have any information about her older brother, missing for more than two years.

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