Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw testifies before grand jury on Uvalde school shooting
UVALDE – Texas Department of Public Safety Director Col. Steve McCraw testified before a Uvalde grand jury Wednesday that was seated to possibly bring charges against law enforcement officers for the flawed police response to the 2022 shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
McCraw's appearance before the grand jury signals the range of witnesses from whom the grand jury may seek testimony, including both rank-and-file officers and law enforcement agency leaders. It also indicates that grand jurors want to hear from those participants directly so they can question them.
McCraw arrived at Garner Field, the local Uvalde airport, around 9 a.m. Wednesday on a state plane before being driven to the Uvalde County Fairplex, where the grand jury is meeting. He made no public comments.
His arrival comes after the American-Statesman reported last week that multiple law enforcement officers, including from the DPS, had been ordered to appear before the grand jury. Because of grand jury secrecy, it is unclear who else has testified or will testify in coming days.
McCraw's agency has been under a particular microscope since the shooting. Two DPS troopers were terminated, and questions have circled the investigation for 21 months about why his agency did not take over the response to the shooter after arriving at Robb Elementary School. McCraw has since put a policy in place allowing them to do so.
Separately, McCraw's agency has faced questions about its continued refusal to release investigative information in the case, despite rulings from a judge in a lawsuit brought by multiple media outlets, including the American-Statesman. The agency has said it is doing so at the request of Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell to protect the grand jury proceedings and a possible resulting criminal case.
More: District judge rules in favor of news outlets in lawsuit over Uvalde shooting records
The ongoing grand jury investigation comes at a time when signs of what happened that day intermingle with efforts to recover.
Currently at the Robb Elementary playground, empty pastel swings sway gently in the wind. The school is scheduled to be demolished but remains intact, fenced off from the rest of the neighborhood. At the corner of the block the school occupies, the crosses memorializing each victim stand bright white, as if new, with fresh flowers laid in front of a stone plaque.
Feet away, residents of the neighborhood have put up signs endorsing candidates for sheriff and constable. Both Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco and Constable Emmanuel Zamora are running for reelection after participating in the failed response to the May 24, 2022, attack. "Re-elect Ruben Nolasco," one sign reads, while another urges passersby to vote for his challenger, Armando M. Garcia. "Keep Constable Zamora," says a sign at another home near the school.
Zamora and Nolasco were both named in the U.S. Justice Department report released Jan. 19, which noted they did not question the response of Uvalde school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo and Uvalde Police Department Acting Chief Mariano Pargas during the shooting.
Pargas stepped down from his position at the city after audio surfaced showing he knew that children were alive and trapped with the gunman inside classrooms 111 and 112 — and still did nothing. He was elected Uvalde County commissioner in November 2022, which some victims' parents continue to protest.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas DPS Director McCraw testifies at grand jury on Uvalde shooting