Southwest
Texas law enforcement who responded to Uvalde school shooting ordered to testify before a grand jury: reports
Multiple law enforcement officers have been ordered to appear before a grand jury investigating nearly two years following the deadly Uvalde school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead as heavily armed agents hesitated to confront the lone gunman.
According to the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, subpoenas for an in-person hearing have been issued, and a hearing is set to begin at the Uvalde County Courthouse next week.
Officers from multiple agencies, including the Texas Department of Public Safety, are expected to be called in front of the 12-member panel during what could be a months-long process, the local outlets said.
If found guilty, the hearing could result in criminal charges against officers for failing to urgently stop the gunman in the May 2022 school massacre.
UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING: ONE YEAR LATER
A law enforcement personnel lights a candle outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong / File)
Pictures of victims of a school mass shooting at the former Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2023. (Wu Xiaoling / Xinhua via Getty Images / File)
The grand jurors are also expected to consider the trove of evidence that can offer a minute-by-minute look at what happened on that Tuesday afternoon.
The American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, citing three unidentified sources, confirmed the delivery of the subpoenas, but declined to provide an exact number or to identify who received them.
UVALDE SHOOTING REPORT FINDS ‘CULTURE OF NONCOMPLIANCE’ AMONG STAFF, ‘TACITLY CONDONED’ BY ADMINISTRATORS
Police previously said that, in total, 376 law enforcement officers descended upon the school after reports of an active shooter.
Children run to safety after escaping from a window during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, where a gunman killed 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas, May 24, 2022. (Pete Luna / Uvalde Leader-News / Handout via Reuters / File)
The issuance of subpoenas to some of the law enforcement officers involved marks an acceleration in the 21-month investigation into the police response that the Department of Justice called a series of “cascading failures” in law enforcement’s handling of the massacre.
“Had law enforcement agencies followed generally accepted practices in active shooter situations and gone right after the shooter and stopped him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a Jan. 2024 press conference.
A report by the Texas House of Representatives investigative committee contributed law enforcement’s response to “system failures and egregious poor decision-making.”
TEXAS OFFICIALS: UVALDE SHOOTING REPORT REVEALS ‘MULTIPLE SYSTEMIC FAILURES’
Reports said that hundreds of law enforcement officers waited 70 minutes on site, before a team breached the fourth grade classroom and confronted the 18-year-old gunman, who had been armed with an AR-15 style rifle and fired more than 140 rounds inside the school.
Since the shooting, body camera video, school surveillance footage and witness accounts have shed light on law enforcement’s belated response.
A woman cries as she visits a memorial for a victim of a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas, May 26, 2022. (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images / File)
Students arrive at Uvalde Elementary, now protected by a fence and Texas State Troopers, for the first day of school, Sept. 6, 2022, in Uvalde. (AP Photo / Eric Gay / File)
Since the shooting, five officers in Texas have been fired or resigned.
Uvalde’s school police chief at the time of the attack was fired in August 2022 and the city’s acting police chief shortly after resigned.
The Texas Attorney General’s office and the Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Jurors deliberating the fate of the man accused of starting the Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history, failed to reach a verdict Thursday afternoon, telling the judge they were deadlocked.
A spokesperson from the United States Attorney’s Office told KTLA that jurors will continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict or give up.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver and one-time Pacific Palisades resident, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire continued to smolder underground for about a week, even after Los Angeles firefighters believed it had been extinguished.
Flames reignited on Jan. 7, erupting into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the upscale community, authorities said.
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A courtroom sketch of Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, during his initial court appearance on Oct. 23, 2025. (Bill Robles) -
The U.S. Dept. of Justice booking photo of Jonathan Rinderknecht over the Palisades Fire devastation in Malibu, California in January 2025 (AP).
Prosecutors argued that Rinderknecht deliberately set the fire, claiming he had grown increasingly resentful of wealthy residents and viewed Pacific Palisades as a symbol of that frustration.
“Their case, though circumstantial, is strong,” KTLA legal analyst Alison Triessl said. “The defense is relying on, can they (prosecutors) show beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Rinderknecht actually started this fire and it wasn’t the result of fireworks or some intervening cause.”
The defense argued there is no direct physical evidence tying Rinderknecht to the fire and said the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence. Rinderknecht did not testify during the trial.
Defense attorney Steve Haney spoke outside the courthouse Wednesday about why he believes it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove how the fire started.
“The lack of scene preservation. The fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing. Not a lot of direct evidence. This is a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove,” Haney said.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested and indicted last October, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of three arson counts, including destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Tony Kurzweil contributed to this report
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