Uvalde will demolish the elementary school where a gunman killed 19 students and 2 teachers last month.
According to CBS affiliate KENS, Mayor Don McLaughlin announced the city was planning to raze Robb Elementary School during a city council meeting on Tuesday.
“My understanding — and I had this discussion with the superintendent — that school will be demolished,” he said. “You can never ask a child to go back or a teacher to go back in that school ever."
Notably, Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw also testified in front of the Texas Senate on Tuesday, making his first public statement about the May 24 shooting and the subsequent police response, calling it "an abject failure" that "set our profession back a decade."
During the hearing, McCraw blamed the city's school police chief Pete Arredondo, who was the commanding officer on the scene, for not ordering a breach of the building sooner and prioritizing the lives of his officers over the children. He also said that officers probably would've been able to stop the shooting within three minutes of their arrival.
"The officers had weapons; the children had none," McCraw said. "The officers had body armor; the children had none. The officers had training; the subject had none."
He added, "One hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds. That's how long children waited, and the teachers waited, in Room 111 to be rescued."
McCraw's statement falls in line with widespread backlash related to perceived police ineptitude, which allegedly included communication breakdowns, poor decision making and a myriad of other deadly mistakes. However, Arredondo has claimed that he didn't know he was in charge and believed someone else was giving the orders.
Officials are currently investigating the police response. A date for the demolition has yet to be announced.
Photo via Getty / Chandan Khanna / AFP