He represents grieving families and he’s had enough.
George LeGrand has a unique view of what happens after a mass casualty shooting -- he represents survivors from the Sutherland Springs church shooting. He calls the lack of answers in the Uvalde school shooting “astonishing.”
“In Uvalde, it’s the waiting and the waiting in the waiting. It doesn’t seem like, it doesn’t seem like the story in Uvalde is that different, that the truth can’t come out,” said LeGrand.
Separated by four and a half years and 118 miles, Sutherland Springs and Uvalde are both Texas tragedies.
LeGrand works at the San Antonio law firm LeGrand & Bernstein, and has seen firsthand the pain and frustration that lingers long after a crime scene is cleared.
In Sutherland Springs, they had answers in 24 to 48 hours after the shooting. In Uvalde, it’s four weeks and counting.
“There’s lots of information coming out. I’m alarmed by the flip-flop all the time. The story is changing all the time. As you bury your child, don’t know what to say. You don’t, you don’t have it resolved in your mind as to what happened to your child. That’s terrible to me,” LeGrand said.
LeGrand’s is a look inside a family’s view. He isn’t representing anyone in Uvalde, but he sees similarities and maybe even a link.
A federal judge awarded his Sutherland Springs clients $230 million, but after the government appealed, that ruling is now in legal limbo.
Two tragedies where those left behind still search for a little bit of closure.
“A little bit of closure. But they’re never going to reach full closure for burying grandma, grandpa or the little girls and little boys in Sutherland Springs. And neither are the folks in Uvalde. But they are entitled to little pieces of closure here and there, don’t you think? So why don’t we try to help them get it,” said LeGrand.
So how do we help get closure?
LeGrand said we keep the stories alive. The Sutherland Springs survivors searching for justice and the Uvalde families searching for answers -- basic facts that all sides still can’t agree on, four weeks and 21 days after 21 lives were lost.
Remember their names, yes, but also cover their stories.
“We need to keep these stories alive. And maybe that will help. I wish I could put my finger on a button that made this all go away. I really do. I’d love to do that, as I’m sure you would,” said LeGrand.