Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for the town of Uvalde one week after 19 schoolchildren and two teachers were killed in a massacre at Robb Elementary School.
The declaration for a state of disaster provides broad executive authority to direct the governor’s response to the mass shooting and expedites critical state and local resources to the grieving town, including mental health facilities and other aid.
“The community of Uvalde has been left devastated by last week’s senseless act of violence at Robb Elementary School and should not have to encounter any difficulty in receiving the support needed to heal,” the governor said in a statement on Tuesday. “All of Texas stands with Uvalde, and we are prepared to provide support through all available means.”
It is the first-ever disaster declaration from a governor in the wake of a mass shooting, and is the fourth active disaster declaration in Texas, along with the state’s response to Covid-19, wildfires and US-Mexico border security.
The disaster declaration will allow the Texas Division of Emergency Management to continue running a family resource centre that was established last week at the Uvalde County Fairplex, where victims’ families can connect with mental health services and other resources.
Texas legislators have urged the governor to convene a special legislative session at the state capitol in Austin to address gun violence.
The governor said during a press briefing last week that “all options are on the table” for a special session. But he suggested in his taped remarks to the National Rifle Association that laws that combat the proliferation of firearms “have not stopped madmen from carrying out evil acts.”
“Do we expect laws to come out of this devastating crime? Absolutely, yes,” he said during a press briefing on Friday. “There will be laws in multiple different subject areas.”
The governor, who initially praised law enforcement’s response to the killings on 24 May, said he was “absolutely livid” after Texas officials contradicted the initial police narrative and failed to account for the hourlong gap between the time police arrived at the school and the gunman’s death.
“I was misled,” he said on 27 May. “I am livid about what happened. I was on this very stage two days ago, and I was telling the public information that had been told to me. ... The information I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate, and I am absolutely livid about that.”
