Indictment accuses former Uvalde schools police chief of delays

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An indictment alleges the police chief for schools in Uvalde, Texas, failed to identify an active shooting, did not follow his training and made critical decisions that slowed the law enforcement response to stop a gunman who was “hunting” victims. The shooter ultimately killed 21 people at Robb Elementary. Pete Arredondo was arrested and briefly booked into jail before he was released Thursday night on 10 state jail felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child in the May 24, 2022, attack that killed 19 children and two teachers. It was one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. The indictment was unsealed Friday.

Texas Supreme Court upholds ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youths

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court has upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths, rejecting pleas from parents that it violates their right to seek care for their children. The 8-1 ruling Friday from the all-Republican court leaves in place a law that went into effect in September 2023. A group of families and doctors sued to overturn the law, saying it discriminates against transgender children with devastating effects on families who are denied treatment. Texas is the largest of least 25 states that have passed laws banning some gender-affirming care for minors.

US removes Gaza aid pier due to weather and may not put it back, officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the pier built by the U.S. military to bring aid to Gaza is being removed due to weather to protect it, and the U.S. is considering not re-installing it unless aid begins flowing out into the population again. While the military has helped deliver desperately needed food through the pier, the vast majority of it is still sitting in the adjacent storage yard because of the difficulty that agencies have had moving it to areas in Gaza where it is most needed, and that storage area is almost full. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements.

Four Missouri prison guards charged with murder, and fifth with manslaughter, in death of Black man

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Four Missouri prison guards were charged Friday with murder, and a fifth with involuntary manslaughter, in the December death of a Black man who died after the officers pepper sprayed him and covered his face with a mask while in custody at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, authorities said. According to a complaint filed Friday, the guards on Dec .8, 2023, pepper-sprayed Othel Moore Jr., 38, in the face, placed a mask over his face that inhibited his ability to breathe and left him in a position causing his asphyxiation. An attorney for Moore’s family, Andrew Stroth, has said Moore had blood coming out of his ears and nose and that several inmates heard Moore screaming that he couldn’t breathe.