SAN ANTONIO — The families of 19 victims killed in the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School will be paid $2 million by the City of Uvalde as part of a newly announced settlement, but other stipulations of the agreement could have longer-lasting effects for the city as it moves forward from tragedy.
Those commitments made by Uvalde officials as part of the settlement are wide-ranging, impacting police policy, cemetery maintenance and transparency regarding expenditures related to the shooting.
"There was an obvious systemic failure out there May 24. The whole world saw that," said Javier Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was among the 21 victims at Robb. "No amount of money is worth the lives of our children."
Among the more notable items now on the city's to-do list: establishing a committee to work with families on the establishment of a permanent memorial, "which the city will fund," at Uvalde Plaza in the heart of the community.
“Uvalde is a city in need of healing, and this settlement, the terms of which were reached through open, difficult conversations, is an important step forward in that process," San Antonio-based attorney Erin Rogiers, of Guerra LLP, said in a statement. "The families we represent have every right to be distrustful and angry. I am in awe that, despite that, they agreed to find a way forward so this community can start to heal."
The settlement announced Wednesday is separate from new lawsuits the families have filed against 92 Texas DPS troopers who responded to Robb Elementary on May 24, 2022.
It also stipulates that the city has committed to:
- Establishing May 24th as an annual Day of Remembrance for Robb victims.
- Continuing to shore up mental health services for families and shooting survivors, including bringing outside entities to coordinate "new developments for children and families in the Uvalde area.
- Implementing new "fitness for duty" standards for Uvalde Police Department (UPD) officers, to be developed alongside the Department of Justice.
- Ensuring UPD provides "enhanced training for current and future officers."
- Communicate with families regarding the "burden on police due to the prevalence of gun violence."
- Regular maintenance of Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery, where Robb Elementary victims are buried.
- Creating two new at-large positions on the Cemetery Advisory Board, to be filled by relatives of Robb victims
- Paying families back for repairing ornamentation at the gravesites of Robb victims.
- Providing "updated accounting of all donations the city has received in connection with the Robb Elementary shooting and the spending of such funds."
Jerry Mata, whose daughter Tess was killed in the Robb Elementary shooting, said families thought it was best to make this announcement Wednesday. He told reporters that as families prepare for the two-year mark Friday, they feel numb.
"It's not about moving forward... it's trying to do the right thing for the community," said Mata. "Just because we settled doesn't mean we're gonna stop fighting."
According to a statement, the settlement is the result of a "yearlong restorative process" that involved the families and Uvalde officials.
Uvalde city officials provided the following statement to KENS 5 as the settlement was announced:
“Today, we are thankful to join the victims’ families in arriving at an agreement that will allow us to remember the Robb Elementary tragedy while moving forward together as a community to bring healing and restoration to all those affected. We will forever be grateful to the victims’ families for working with us over the past year to cultivate an environment of community-wide healing that honors the lives and memories of those we tragically lost. May 24th is our community’s greatest tragedy.”
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