Uvalde police officer criticized for checking phone was slain teacher's husband

A Uvalde police officer criticized over video of him checking his phone during the massacre at Robb Elementary School is the husband of a teacher who was killed in the classroom and had contacted him after after being shot, according to a Texas lawmaker investigating the shooting.

“This really makes my blood boil,” Terrance Carroll, a former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, wrote in a tweet. “This officer is checking his phone while kids & teachers are literally dying a few doors down.”

The officer is Ruben Ruiz, whose wife, Eva Mireles, had been shot inside one of the classrooms with the gunman.

Eva told Ruiz in a phone call that she had been shot. Ruiz, standing in the hallway with his pistol drawn, was unable to get to her. Other officers took his weapon and escorted Ruiz from the scene. Mireles was alive when police transported her from the classroom, but she died before reaching the hospital.

Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, said he had not planned to make any public comments until the committee’s report is finished, but felt he needed to set the record straight about Ruiz.

“I couldn’t say nothing seeing this man, who’s lost everything, maligned as if he was indifferent or actively malicious,” Moody said on Twitter. “Context matters. To those who haven’t bothered to read even the news that’s been reported in your rush to judgment, he attempted to engage but was removed from the building and disarmed. We’ll have much to say about the police response, but no criticism of this officer.”

Texas Tribune:

Critics were also quick to lambaste another officer who was seen using a hand sanitizer dispenser as he stood in the hallway while the horrific attack was still underway.

But according to sources involved in the investigation, the hand-sanitizing officer was actually an Uvalde County sheriff’s deputy who had been instructed to get ready to help triage wounded victims, The Texas Tribune reported.

Other law enforcement officers staged medical equipment and put on gloves as they prepared to remove children from the classrooms.