Officer who responded to Uvalde shooting has been fired, first from Texas state police

Texas Department of Public Safety fired an officer who was at the scene of the Uvalde school massacre. He's the first member of state police fired since the killings.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety fired an officer Friday who was at the scene of the Uvalde school massacre and becomes the first member of the state police force to lose their job in the fallout over the hesitant response to the May attack.

The department served Sgt. Juan Maldonado with termination papers, spokeswoman Ericka Miller said.

The firing comes five months after the shooting at Robb Elementary School that has put state police under scrutiny over their actions on the campus as a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle killed 19 children and two teachers.

Outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 25.Liz Moskowitz for NBC NewsBody camera footage and media reports have shown the Department of Public Safety had a larger role at the scene than the department appeared to suggest after the May 24 shooting. State troopers were among the first wave of officers to arrive but did not immediately confront the gunman, which experts say goes against standard police procedure during mass shootings.

Instead, more than 70 minutes passed before officers finally stormed inside a fourth-grade classroom and killed the gunman, ending one of the deadliest school attacks in U.S. history. Nearly 400 officers in all eventually made their way to the scene, including state police, Uvalde police, school officers and U.S. Border Patrol agents.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-state-police-fire-first-officer-uvalde-response-rcna53541

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