The principal of the Texas elementary school, where a gunman went on a rampage in May, has been reinstated, ABC News reported Thursday, citing her attorney.
Andy Gutierrez was placed on paid administrative leave on Tuesday by Hall Harell, superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, after a report on an investigation by a Texas legislative commission revealed she was aware of security concerns surrounding the school.
“Mrs. Gutierrez’s administrative leave with pay has been revoked and she has been fully reinstated to her position,” ABC said, citing a statement from her attorney.
Gutierrez has not publicly commented on the investigative report.
In this image from surveillance video provided by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District via the Austin American-Statesman, a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle enters and walks down a hallway at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)
The report, which was the most exhaustive attempt yet to determine what went wrong on May 24, said “system failures” and poor leadership contributed to the death toll.
At least 19 schoolchildren and two adults were killed by the 18-year-old gunman, who was shot dead by police.
The report said Gutierrez and other staff knew the lock on the door of room 111 — where the shootings took place — was not working properly, but had not placed a work order to have it repaired. That broken lock allowed the shooter to easily enter the classroom, it said.
The mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, New York, claimed more than 30 lives and led to a bipartisan gun safety bill signed by US President Joe Biden on June 25.