Tension continues as Uvalde marks one year since school shooting

UVALDE, Texas - There will be a public vigil this week to honor the 19 children and two teachers who were killed in the mass shooting in Uvalde Texas one year ago Wednesday.

And even a year later, it appears as though city leaders and groups representing the victims’ families are still not seeing eye to eye.

The mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, addressed the media on Monday morning.

"This week is a tough week we can't even imagine the pain that the families are feeling," he said.

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The city canceled meetings and is not doing media interviews after Monday.

"This is about the families and the children and the souls that we lost that day," McLaughlin said.

The mayor says he doesn't know how the city will move forward past its grief and frustration.

"I wish I had a playbook, I don't for what we're going to do. You know, it's been a year. There's times that it breaks me up when I stop and reflect and think, and I don't know the answer, I just know that together we can get through it," said McLaughlin. "If you try to stand it alone, you can't and so hopefully as a community we can get together these families have had - and I'm going to say it this way - they've had nothing but pure hell for a year." 

Uvalde law enforcement has received a lot of criticism for its response to the shooting.

Nearly 400 local and state police officers waited more than an hour to confront the gunman.

Days after the shooting, the Texas Department of Public Safety was accused of changing the narrative several times as it became clear the response was a "systemic failure."

Some officers, including the school district’s police chief, were fired.

The outside investigation into the shooting is still not complete. Uvalde city leaders say their efforts to push forward have been blocked at the county and state level.

No one yet held accountable for mistakes that were made.

"Everybody who was there that day has to be held accountable, whether you were the school district police department, Uvalde police department, every agency that was there, and this is my opinion, it's been a bunch of b.s. that we've been a year, and we're still waiting for the answers," McLaughlin said.

Texas lawmakers have also been criticized for not addressing gun control in the wake of the shooting.

They chose not to vote on a proposal to raise the minimum age to purchase certain assault-style rifles from 18 to 21.

It was voted out of a House committee two weeks ago in the wake of yet another mass shooting in Allen. But it was not brought up for a floor vote.

That angered the families of some Uvalde shooting victims who’ve been pushing for that change since the shooting last May.

While not asked directly about gun legislation the mayor spoke candidly about tougher restrictions for firearms.

"We need to look at changing the law, and we need to do stronger background checks, but we have elected officials up there on both sides of the party that say my way or the highway," said McLaughlin. "We need to reach a point that we can sit in a room and have a conversation, and I'm not going to get a 100% and you're not going to get 100%, but together we can come up with something that works." 

This week, Uvalde sits front row and tries to work through cascading emotions.

"Know that God's power is made perfect in my weakness, in our weakness, and he heals the brokenhearted, and he lifts up the fallen, and I'm grateful for that because that's where I am," said Pastor Tony Gruben of the Uvalde Baptist Temple.

Uvalde officials have asked people to stay away from the city to give families privacy to host memorials in their hometown.

While the nonprofit organization Lives Robbed is asking people to essentially ignore that. The group invited people to Uvalde to pay their respects.

A candlelight vigil is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Uvalde Memorial Park Amphitheater.

Adding to the tension, the city will not allow parking in many public areas in hopes of keeping the crowds away.

Also, students will not be in school to observe the one-year mark of the school shooting.

The district adjusted the calendar so that Monday is the last day of school for the year.

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