Officials from the Uvalde Consolidated School District called the police on journalists on Wednesday after reporters at its headquarters demanded answers about the massacre that unfolded at Robb Elementary School last week.
A short video posted to Twitter by CNN reporter Shimon Prokupecz shows four law enforcement officers, who appear to be employed by the school district and unaffiliated with Uvalde police, standing outside the district’s offices.
One officer said, “Just so that you know, Uvalde PD is en route and once they get here, they will start issuing criminal trespasses for the property.”
A second officer said that the school district wanted them to give the journalists an initial warning before criminal trespassing charges were doled out.
WATCH:
The school district office called the police to ask the media to leave their property. pic.twitter.com/uhwWLZe3ya
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) June 1, 2022
The call to Uvalde PD came after an official for the school district spoke with reporters but did not answer critical questions about some of the events that took place.
“School spokesperson came out to us before our live shot to say the school will release a statement,” Prokupecz said. “She refused to answer my repeated questions about the door not locking.”
Prokupecz confronted Uvalde Independent School District Police Chief Pedro Arredondo earlier on Wednesday to get answers about decisions that he allegedly made in responding to the school shooting.
“We’re not going to release anything; we have people in our community being buried,” Arredondo said. “We’re going to be respectful … we’re going to be respectful to the families.”
“I just want your reaction to Director McCraw saying that you were responsible for the decision to go into that room, how do you explain yourself to the parents?” Prokupecz asked. “I understand that, but you have an opportunity to explain yourself to the parents.”
“We’re going to do that eventually, obviously,” Arredondo responded.
“When?” Prokupecz asked.
“Whenever this is done, we’ll let the families quit grieving, then we’ll do that obviously,” said Arredondo. “Just so everybody knows, we have been in contact with DPS every day, just so you all know, every day.”
Prokupecz pressed Arredondo over the Texas Department of Public Safety, saying that the Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police were no longer cooperating with its investigation into their response to the shooting.
“Just so you know, we have been talking to them every day,” Arredondo insisted.
CNN’s @ShimonPro confronts Uvalde schools police chief Peter Arredondo for the force's decision to not cooperate with investigations into the police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting. pic.twitter.com/4DPocsn8OB
— The Recount (@therecount) June 1, 2022