AUSTIN, Texas — Lives Robbed, created by the families of children lost in the Robb Elementary mass shooting last year, has invited the public to take part in an evening candlelight vigil on the anniversary of the shooting, May 24.

City leaders created some confusion earlier in the month with a statement sent to the media that indicated that the city wanted privacy on May 24. They urged those who wanted to remember Robb to host a celebration in their own hometown.

“As a community, we respectfully request to be given the time, space, and privacy to remember those we lost, along with those who survived the mass shooting on May 24,” according to the state, signed by city leaders. “It is essential to the healing process for our community, and most importantly for our children to be given this time to grieve together privately.”

That statement seemed at odds with the high profile of many of the Uvalde parents, who have been vocal both on social media and at the Texas Capitol, pushing for a bill to limit the purchase of semi-automatic weapons to those over 21. Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, failed to get an amendment attached to a gun-related bill and told his colleagues how frustrated he was with their decision not to take up guns this session. 

“We don’t get to pat ourselves on the back for mirroring federal legislation. It isn’t enough… I urge you to sign the non-disclosure agreement. I urge you to look at all the videos. I urge you to hear the officers throwing up as they take down the gunman and see the scene,” Gutierrez told his colleagues last Thursday night. “You’ve never seen so much blood in your life.”

During a meeting with the media on Monday morning, Mayor Don McLaughlin said it was his intention to keep the focus on the children and teachers lost at Robb Elementary. 

“We called this, basically to tell you we’re here to support the families,” McLaughlin said. “We’re not going to be doing interviews after today. This is not about us. This is about these families and the survivors. It’s their time, it’s our time, to reflect on the memories of the children and the teachers who have lost their lives. So, we ask for you to show compassion and to show some privacy, whether it be the families or the citizens.”

Monday’s news conference, like many of the news conferences and school board meetings over the last year, was well-intentioned but often vague. Pressed by the media for a fuller answer on what was expected on Wednesday, McLaughlin said community leaders had met with several Uvalde parents and didn’t want to see a reporter thrusting a microphone in the face of a family member, grieving at a gravesite. 

Interim Superintendent Gary Patterson, who was also in the meeting with parents, said the letter’s intent was to keep away bad actors, possibly implying the hotly contested sides of the gun control debate. School will not be in session on Wednesday in Uvalde CISD.

“The intent of the letter was not to exclude anybody, but to try to send a message that if you’re coming to Uvalde and you have to cause trouble or if you’re coming to protest other things, you might just want to find another time and place to do that,” Patterson said. “That was the intent of the language, and I really regret that some of our families thought that we were trying to get people to stay away.”

McLaughlin, asked at another point by the local Uvalde newspaper just how the city specifically intended to support the grieving parents, admitted he wished he had a playbook for all the challenges and differences faced by the community in the last year. 

“I mean, it’s been a year. At times, it just breaks me up, when I stop and reflect and think, ‘I don’t know the answer,’” McLaughlin said. “I just know that together, we can get through this. Hopefully, there’s a community that we can come together and be there to support.”

Lives Robbed, which was at the news conference, clarified that the families want privacy when it comes to their walk on Wednesday of the 21 Murals. The 21 Murals, spearheaded by local artist Abel Ortiz, are part of the Healing Uvalde project. The public is welcome at the candlelight vigil and the butterfly release, as well as any activity that takes place after the private mural walk. 

City leaders, when asked questions by the media, reiterated many of the points made at prior public meetings. The investigation of the Uvalde Police Department’s actions during the Robb shooting is ongoing. The city has no new update on when District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee might be releasing charges against first responders in the Robb Elementary case. And Patterson confirmed the current Robb Elementary site will be demolished, possibly as soon as this summer, once Busbee releases a court order on the building. 

Victims who died the day of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary were Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo, Jacklyn “Jackie” J. Cazares, Makenna Lee Elrod, Jose Manuel Flores Jr., Eliahna “Ellie” Amyah Garcia, Irma Linda Garcia, Uziyah Garcia, Amerie Jo Garza, Xavier James Lopez, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Tess Marie Mata, Maranda Gail Mathis, Eva Mireles, Alithia Haven Ramirez, Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, Alexandria “Lexi” Aniyah Rubio, Layla Marie Salazar, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Eliahna Cruz Torres, and Rojelio Fernandez Torres.