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Uvalde, Texas, school where deadly mass shooting occurred will be torn down, mayor says

UVALDE, Texas — The Texas elementary school where an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 21 people will be torn down, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said Tuesday.

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According to CNN, McLaughlin said it was his “understanding” that Robb Elementary School, the site of the May 24 mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead, will be demolished.

“You could never ask a child to go back or a teacher to go back to that school – ever,” he told residents at a Uvalde City Council meeting, according to the news outlet.

McLaughlin, who did not specify a date for the demolition, added that he has discussed the issue with the school district’s superintendent, CNN reported.

The mayor also weighed in on comments made by Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw during a Texas Senate committee hearing earlier in the day, according to the Texas Tribune. McLaughlin accused McCraw, who called the response to the shooting an “abject failure,” of singling out local law enforcement in an attempt to deflect criticism against his own agency, the newspaper reported.

“McCraw has continued to, whether you want to call it, lie, leak … mislead or misstate information in order to distance his own troopers and rangers from the response,” McLaughlin said, according to the newspaper.

McLaughlin went on to say Uvalde officials have not been briefed on the shooting investigation, which is being led by the Texas Rangers, CNN reported.

Although the city had said it would not reveal information learned during the ongoing investigation, McLaughlin changed course, saying, “The gloves are off. If we know it, we will share it,” the Tribune reported.