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Robb Elementary principal placed on leave by Uvalde schools

Mandy Gutierrez
Posted at 8:03 AM, Jul 26, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-26 12:07:20-04

Robb Elementary School Principal Mandy Gutierrez was placed on paid administrative leave on Monday, her attorney told CNN.

A reason for her paid suspension has not been given.

Her suspension comes after a gunman opened fire at the Uvalde, Texas, school killing 19 students and two teachers.

Gutierrez became principal of the elementary school in 2021. She was previously a fourth-grade teacher and assistant principal there.

In an analysis of the shooting, officials said Gutierrez had difficulty issuing a lockdown as shots were being fired due to a “bad Wi-Fi signal.” The report said she did not attempt to initiate a lockdown by phone.

The report said Gutierrez also acknowledged that she knew that the door the gunman entered had issues. Officials found that the door did not lock properly, allowing the gunman to enter the school.

Families of the victims continue to demand accountability from officials.

"The principal needs to be gone, all of the school board needs to be gone because as you see, they don't care... oh, and the officers because, obviously, they're cowards,” Brett Cross, relative of Uziyah Garcia who died in the massacre, told CNN. "You failed our children, you failed our children. You knew that the Wi-Fi signal was bad and you didn't do anything about it. You knew the doors were bad; you didn't do anything about it.”