Robb Elementary mass shooting: Principal reinstated days after suspension
Following the Robb Elementary mass shooting where 19 students and two teachers were killed in May, Principal Mandy Gutierrez has been reinstated as head of the school.
“Ms. Gutierrez’s administrative leave with pay has been lifted and she has been fully reinstated to her position, where she will continue to discharge her duties and continue to serve all the families of the UCISD,” her attorney Ricardo Cedillo confirmed in a statement.
Her return comes just days after Hall Harell, superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, suspended her with pay. While a specific reason for her brief leave was not provided, Gutierrez earlier this week ripped a report by a Texas House of Representatives investigative committee on the massacre at Robb Elementary.
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman unleashed violence inside the primary school in Uvalde, not far from the Mexican border. He killed 21 people before he was fatally shot by a border patrol agent on the scene.
The report concluded Gutierrez was aware of security problems at the school, including that a door to one of the classrooms involved in the carnage did not lock.
The investigative committee also noted “systemic failures” and poor leadership contributed to the high death toll.
The principal in an interview defended her actions in the early moments of the massacre, saying she followed her training and the school district’s protocol.
