Earlier this week (July 12), a video leaked showing the horrific scene within the hallways of Robb Elementary School during the May 24 mass shooting. In the footage, armed Texas law enforcement officials wait over 70 minutes before stopping the gunman. On that fateful day, 21 people were killed, including 19 students. The police received a ton of backlash for their response time, and the video stirred up even more emotions.

One officer faced added scrutiny after footage showed him texting during the massacre. Yesterday (July 14), the Associated Press reported that the officer was married to a teacher who was killed during the attack. Texas state Rep. Joe Moody is investigating the officer’s case and said Ruben Ruiz was checking on his wife at the time of the now-viral moment. After Ruiz was publicly bashed for texting, Moody came to his defense. “​​This is the husband of teacher Eva Mireles, who contacted him on his phone from her classroom while he was on-scene to say that she’d been shot and was dying,” Moody began in a tweet. He continued, “I’d not planned to speak publicly until the report was released, but I couldn’t say nothing seeing this man, who’s lost everything, maligned as if he was indifferent or actively malicious. Context matters.”

As previously reported by REVOLT, on June 21, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety Steve McCraw discussed Ruiz’s tragic story. The director testified before the state Senate that Mireles alerted Ruiz that “she had been shot and was dying.” Although Ruiz tried his best to save his wife, “he was detained and they took his gun away from him and escorted him off the scene,” he said. The 18-year-old suspect Salvador Ramos was also killed by law enforcement during the attack.

Last month (June 21), Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin announced the school would be demolished. “My understanding — and I had this discussion with the [school district] superintendent — is that school will be demolished. You can never ask a child to go back, or teacher to go back, in that school ever,” he said.