DPS reinstates Texas Ranger fired for Uvalde shooting response

The Texas Department of Public Safety has reinstated a Texas Ranger who the agency previously attempted to fire for failing to respond appropriately to the deadly Robb Elementary School shooting.

DPS Director Steve McCraw said in a Friday letter to Christopher Ryan Kindell that Kindell could return to his former position now that the Texas Rangers had completed their criminal investigation of the shooting. No criminal charges were filed against any DPS officers. McCraw said that Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell, who convened a grand jury in January to investigate law enforcement’s delayed response to the May 2022 shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, requested the reinstatement.

Mitchell confirmed that she made that request, noting that rangers in Real County, Val Verde County and Maverick County had been covering Kindell’s territory while he was suspended.

“Ranger Kindell has worked diligently to serve the citizens of Uvalde County for approximately seven years and has been the lead investigator on several complicated cases, from child sexual abuse to murder cases,” Mitchell said in an email. “It was time that Ranger Kindell got back to work serving Uvalde County.”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/05/chris-kindell-uvalde-fired-reinstated-texas-ranger/