The Uvalde Leader-News has reported that a special grand jury has been selected in Uvalde, Texas to investigate the response to the tragic massacre that occurred at Robb Elementary School in 2022. This development marks the first known progress within the criminal justice system regarding the botched police response.

According to District Attorney Christina Mitchell, the grand jury will examine evidence relating to the mass shooting. However, she did not disclose any specific focus of the investigation. The jurors are expected to dedicate at least six months to thoroughly examining the case.

Efforts to reach out to local prosecutor and court officials for comment have been unsuccessful as of now.

This news follows a recent visit by Attorney General Merrick Garland to Uvalde, during which he delivered a scathing review of the law enforcement response. It is unclear whether the grand jury formation and Garland's visit are related. The Uvalde Leader-News states that a group of potential grand jurors had already been summoned prior to this revelation.

The Justice Department, in a 575-page report released on Thursday, identified critical failures in leadership among specific law enforcement officers who responded to the school. The report outlines the sequence of events, revealing that it took 77 minutes from the moment the 18-year-old shooter entered the school until he was eventually shot.

The massacre at Robb Elementary School remains one of the deadliest incidents in the ongoing problem of campus shootings, claiming the lives of 19 children and two teachers.

The federal report also shed light on numerous issues that arose in the aftermath of the shooting, including the evacuation and reunification of students with their families, notifying grieving parents of their children's deaths, and providing necessary therapy services.

"The response to the May 24, 2022, mass casualty incident at Robb Elementary School was a failure," the Justice Department report concludes bluntly.

The request for the DOJ report came from the former mayor of Uvalde, Don McLaughlin, who expressed concerns about a cover-up and being excluded from other investigations due to changing narratives regarding the events of that fateful day.

Attorney General Garland met with the families of the victims prior to the release of the report, expressing his deep sympathy for their immense pain. The families, in their pursuit of justice, seek accountability for the actions that were not taken on that tragic day.

As the special grand jury undertakes their investigation, the community of Uvalde hopes that this process will bring clarity, answers, and ultimately, accountability for those responsible for the inadequate response to the massacre at Robb Elementary School.