Shooting at HEB leaves parents from surrounding schools concerned about lack of communication from police

LEON VALLEY, Texas – A shooting at HEB on the corner of Loop 410 and Bandera left many people panicking Tuesday, but a school next door had no idea an armed suspect was nearby.

“When I saw them coming towards the car, I wondered if my children were safe,” said a parent whose child attends the School of Science and Technology and wished to remain anonymous.

The mother we spoke to has children who attend the School of Science and Technology. She tells us that when she picked up her children from school, she noticed that the staff were unaware of the police presence in the area.

“They had no idea, they didn’t know what had happened until I told them,” the parent said, adding: “It was very upsetting, at that point I just wanted to advocate for the other parents because of what I had seen.”

The mother stated that she was working out at LA Fitness next to HEB during the altercation and saw the suspect walking toward her children’s school before she was arrested.

“We were not informed about the incident behind our campus,” said Anna Ruiz, communications coordinator for the School of Science and Technology.

Anna Ruiz says Leon Valley police never called her to inform her of the situation.

“We could have imposed either a hard or a soft lockdown depending on the circumstances,” Ruiz said.

Leon Valley Police Chief David Gonzalez declined to be interviewed, but said part of the problem is that Pat M Neff Middle School has a police dispatch office through NISD, where students can hear what’s happening over police radios.

The School of Science and Technology does not have the same facilities.

“I was let down,” the mother said. “I trust the police, our public servants, to put the safety of the children and the community first, but I feel like that was not a priority for them.”

Gonzalez told us that no one was injured and the suspect is in custody, which he considers a success.

He added that he was in contact with representatives of the charter schools. When asked about the next steps, however, he said he did not want to make this public.

“Our team at headquarters will meet with the Leon Valley Police Department to review their communications logs and make sure we are on there and that they have the correct contact information,” Ruiz said.

KSAT also asked Neff Middle School.

An NISD official said they did not impose a curfew. However, they said their police officers were dispatched to the area when they noticed what was going on. The suspect was already in custody when they arrived, the official said.

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