A Uvalde school police officer was prohibited from trying to save his wife, a Robb Elementary school teacher, during the deadly mass shooting in May.
His wife, fourth grade teacher Eva Mireles, was one of the two teachers killed in the attack. Nineteen children also lost their lives.
Texas Department of Public Safety director Col. Steven McCraw revealed the details while giving testimony on Tuesday. He also called the police response to the massacre an “abject failure.”
The officer, Ruben Ruiz, arrived at the school after the accused 18-year-old gunman walked into Robb Elementary, KSAT reported. Mireles had called Ruiz and told him that she had been shot and was “dying.”
“And what happened to [Ruiz] is he tried to move forward into the hallway,” McCraw said. “He was detained and they took his gun away from him and escorted him off the scene.”
McCraw also criticized school district police chief Pete Arredondo for his handling of the mass shooting. At least three investigations are currently studying the response by law enforcement.
“Obviously, not enough training was done in this situation, plain and simple,” McCraw said of the police chief. “Because terrible decisions were made by the on-site commander.”