A resident on their morning walk Thursday morning discovered vandals rearranged and damaged memorial crosses honoring Robb Elementary victims.
UVALDE, Texas — A memorial honoring the 21 victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting was vandalized early Tuesday morning, just weeks before the third anniversary of the massacre that devastated the Uvalde community.
The white crosses, one for each victim killed in the May 24, 2022 shooting, were found rearranged in a tight circle, turned backward. One was knocked over and damaged. The desecration was discovered around 6:10 a.m. by a resident on a morning walk who called police, Uvalde Police Chief Homer Delgado said.
“I came straight over here and met with them and got to see the devastation that they felt from what occurred last night,” Delgado said, referring to victims’ families on scene Thursday morning. “It affects us tremendously but we’re going to do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Family members of the victims rushed to the memorial plaza to restore the crosses to their original position.
“This is sacred ground,” said Vincent Salazar, whose granddaughter Layla Salazar died in the shooting. “It’d be like going to the church and vandalizing the church.”
Salazar said a friend notified him about the vandalism Thursday afternoon.
“I told my wife, I said we need to go to Robb and check on the crosses and make sure everybody’s doing OK,” he said.
The police chief said officers purchased surveillance cameras Thursday morning to monitor the memorial site. The Uvalde school district has also volunteered to install additional cameras around the former campus, which remains a secured crime scene.
For Salazar, his heartache deepens with Thursday’s news. He says Layla’s cross has been vandalized before.
“For me, it’s disgusting to see what they did here,” Salazar said. “What did these children do wrong to deserve this?”
As the May 24 anniversary approaches, Salazar says he’s making wreaths for each of the 21 victims to be placed at the memorial in the town plaza. Three years later, he plans to honor his granddaughter the same way she won six gold medals in her final track meet: Look forward and don’t turn back.
“She had no room for second place. That’s what she told me,” said Salazar. “She was just a happy little girl.”
Authorities are asking residents in the area to review any home surveillance footage between 11 p.m. Monday night and 6 a.m. Tuesday morning for possible suspects. Delgado said the footage could help identify who was in the area during the time of the incident.
State Rep. Don McLaughlin, who previously served as Uvalde’s mayor, is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible.