The Uvalde public school district is no stranger to campus lockdowns. In October 2021, Mayor Don McLaughlin reported the district had been forced into lockdowns 48 times during the first few months of the school year, largely due to human smuggler pursuits near campuses.
At the time, Uvalde Mayor McLaughlin joined with a commission of local government representatives of Kinney and Uvalde Counties to demand action from the Texas Department of Emergency Management (TDEM) regarding the growing border crisis, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported. The county and city officials detailed the consequential impact of the border crisis on local resources.
Robb Elementary School, one of the district’s seven schools, became the scene of one of the worst mass-casualty shootings in American history on Tuesday morning when an 18-year-old man entered the school. By the time the incident ended, the shooter killed 19 students and two teachers.
The mayor told TDEM officials that Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District officials had to lock down schools “48 times this year due to high-speed pursuits and migrants fleeing from law enforcement.”
Clark reported in October 2021:
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told the TDEM the region needs refrigerated facilities to hold deceased migrants. “I can’t send local decedents from our community to San Antonio because our facilities are full–that is unacceptable,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin told the TDEM his community dispatched all six available ambulances on one occasion to treat migrants in need of care at the local rail yard. That left residents with impaired emergency response capabilities for most of the day. McLaughlin says local schools have been locked down 48 times this year due to high-speed pursuits and migrants fleeing law enforcement in his city.
McLaughlin said local law enforcement is dealing with armed smugglers and migrants with convictions including murder and sex offenses. “When the Haitian crisis was going on, the border leading to our city was wide open, there appears to be no end in sight, we need help and answers,” he explained.
Breitbart Texas reached out to school officials on Thursday for an update on the number of lockdowns faced during this nearly completed school year. A response was not available by press time.