SAN ANTONIO — The Texas House committee investigating the massacre in Uvalde began its work on June 9 and will have a second meeting Thursday.
The committee does have subpoena power. And the vice chair, El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, says they’ll be talking to anyone and everyone who’s been intimately involved and the ultimate goal is to lay the facts bare.
“This is not a committee that starts with a conclusion and goes from there,” Moody said on Inside Texas Politics. “We are going to thoroughly review everything about this tragedy and let those facts speak for themselves. That’s our job.”
Like the first meeting held in Austin last week, the testimony portion was held in executive session, meaning no media was allowed inside the room.
The principal of Robb Elementary Mandy Gutierrez was one of the people who testified, along with custodian Jaime Perez, director of student services Kenneth Mueller, maintenance director Rodney Harrison, and the school district's superintendent John Harrell.
The changing narrative of what happened at Robb Elementary, and law enforcement's response to the shooting, are a few reasons why this community and the families of the victims are demanding prompt accountability.
"This is our first hearing in Uvalde," Rep. Dustin Burrows said. "It's obviously a painful and difficult time for the people, one that none of us can probably understand fully. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I appreciate the doors that have been open. Because of that, we will treat this community and the people here with the utmost respect."
Burrows closed the meeting by saying that the people who testified today were open and supportive of the investigation, but said he wasn't sure the Uvalde Police Department would be.
"I do want to make this comment that the Uvalde ISD Police Department is being cooperative. We look forward to their testimony. We're very appreciative of that. There is a question mark, however about the Uvalde Police Department itself, about whether or not they will visit with us voluntarily. And we'll see if they do that or not."