The Texas Department of Public Safety has fired Sgt. Juan Maldonado, one of the seven state troopers under investigation for failing to act at the onset of May's Uvalde school shooting, ABC News reported.
Maldonado had been seen on leaked bodycam audio and video telling fellow Sgt. Eduardo Canales that DPS was sending reinforcements after Canales urged Maldonado that they "got to get in there."
Canales was part of the near 70-minute wait law enforcement carried out inside Robb Elementary School while 18-year-old Salvador Ramos fatally shot 19 students and two teachers in multiple classrooms.
With an ongoing investigation into why police waited so long, Maldonado currently stands as the only officer disciplined for his actions that day.
Democratic lawmaker Roland Gutierrez, a parent of one of the victims, told NBC's KXAN that merely firing Maldonado was not enough to make up for the entire department’s delayed actions.
"DPS wants to bamboozle the public by doing a very, very bare minimum," the state senator stated. "It is time for [DPS head] Steve McCraw to resign. It is time for the people that were at that scene that were in charge to resign. And it is time that we get to the bottom of what actually happened here so that policymakers can ensure that it never happens again."
The news comes as new audio leaked on Thursday shows DPS Capt. Joel Betancourt telling "the team that's going to make breach needs to stand by," with a lieutenant later heard reiterating the order to lower command.
Betancourt, also under investigation, had previously indicated to investigators that he had little knowledge or involvement in the operation prior to the shooter's death. However, the 12:45 p.m. CT audio recording places his order before Ramos died.
An earlier text from Betancourt to Victor Escalon, the regional DPS director for the South Texas Region, also raises concerns about the timing provided.
"Initial info one person possibly a teacher shot in head, one officer shot, kid has AK 47, CNU [specialist negotiator team] has been activated, suspect is barricaded. Troopers who are medics have been deployed. Drone team is on its way," the text dated 12:09 p.m. read.
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