Uvalde CISD campuses will have Texas DPS officers, Gov. Abbott announced

UVALDE, Texas (KTRK) -- Less than 24 hours after another round of tense exchanges and confrontations between Uvalde residents demanding answers on the fatal May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary and city councilmembers, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Public Safety have announced security measures for the district.

Abbott said Wednesday that more than 30 law enforcement officers will be provided to campuses throughout Uvalde Consolidated School district for the upcoming school year.

The officers' presence comes at the request of Uvalde CISD Superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell.

The announcement comes after a Uvalde CISD board of trustees meeting on Monday night, where the board planned to update parents about an option that would allow students who don't feel comfortable about returning to campuses to attend virtually.

Additional improvements include:

• 500 cameras being installed across the district

• Campus monitors in each school who will check on doors, gates, and single points of entry for everyone coming to schools

Still, on Monday, parents wanted answers about whether Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo would be fired. He remains on administrative leave.

"You can right now say, 'You're fired.' I am wondering what is keeping you? I know, 'due process' and all that, but it's the right thing to do and everybody knows that. That is what we are expecting from you all. Do the right thing," a parent said during the meeting.

The board said there is a process that must be followed, but for parents, it's not happening soon enough.

Then Tuesday night at a city council meeting, things remained heated as residents, and even people who don't live in the city, pressed officials there for an update three months after the shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.

Community members, and some from as far as New York, confronted city officials over the police response to the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School.

"I told the city that I was going to have you recalled. We have two council people recalled, police chief fired, city administrator fired, true story," one man told councilmembers.

"I'm going to tell you right now that if you want to start a recall on me, start the damn thing," Uvalde's mayor Don McLaughlin said. "The one thing I'm tired of, people like you coming from outside."

"I don't care what you're tired of!" the man said.

Tensions have stayed high after law enforcement took 77 minutes to breach the classroom and take down the gunman.

School starts in Uvalde the first week of September.