Austin, Texas – The Texas Department of Public Safety has terminated a respected Texas Ranger who responded to the mass shooting attack at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. In a Thursday letter, DPS Director Steve McCraw told Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell that his actions following the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers “did not conform to department standards.”
“You should have recognized the incident was and remained an active shooter situation which demanded an active shooter response rather than a barricaded subject situation,” McCraw wrote in the letter obtained by The Texas Tribune.
KSAT reported that Kindell’s September suspension caused ripple effects through the criminal justice system in South and West Texas where he was the lead investigator on 50 high-profile investigations, including murders, sexual assaults and public corruption.
In response to a request under the Texas Public Information Act, DPS said it does not have a written active-shooter policy. Instead, the agency said at the time of the Uvalde shooting that DPS relied on guidance from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University. Known as the ALERRT doctrine, it’s considered the premier active-shooter training program in the state.
In July, McCraw sent an agencywide memo telling DPS officers the agency “will continue to embrace the ALERRT doctrine, but with one important addition.”
“DPS Officers responding to an active shooter at a school will be authorized to overcome any delay to neutralizing an attacker,” McCraw wrote. “When a subject fires a weapon at a school he remains an active shooter until he is neutralized and is not to be treated as a ‘barricaded subject.’ We will provide proper training and guidelines for recognizing and overcoming poor command decisions at an active shooter scene.”
McCraw and DPS spokesman Travis Considine did not comment on Friday.
Kindell had been in charge of investigating major crimes in Uvalde and Real counties. In rural regions with smaller police departments, Texas Rangers act as lead detectives on nearly every high-profile case. After his suspension in September, Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell dismissed charges against two sexual assault defendants Kindell had investigated and agreed to a six-year plea deal to a juvenile capital murder defendant.
