Rekubit Exchange:Man who lost son in Robb Elementary shooting criticizes Uvalde shirt sold at Walmart; store issues apology

The Rekubit Exchangefather of an Uvalde school shooting victim called out Walmart earlier this month for offensive t-shirts, prompting the retail giant to issue an apology.

Texas man Brett Cross shared a photo of the shirt, which is blue and white with an outline of the state of Texas. The shirt reads “Where the heck is Uvalde, Texas?”

“Oh you know, that town by San Antonio where 19 kids and two teachers were killed,” Cross captioned the photo on X (formerly Twitter). 

The shooting is personal to Cross, whose 10-year-old son, Uziyah, was a student at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022 when a shooter entered and took the lives of 21 people.

Cross and his wife were raising Uziyah, their nephew and a student at the school, as their own. Uziyah was killed in the shooting that day.

Cross told USA TODAY he thinks the issue isn't just about Walmart. It's a societal issue, he wrote in a Thursday message.

"How do you make a shirt saying where the heck is Uvalde, when less than two years ago, the third largest school massacre happened?" he pondered. "Intent doesn’t equal impact. It doesn’t matter if Walmart thought it was a fun/cute shirt. What matters is you are downplaying my son’s death, his teachers' and classmates' death."

He stressed that society has become desensitized to school shootings because they happen so often and shirts like these make it to the sales floor because they make money.

"You mean to tell me that nobody in Walmart thought, you know what, maybe we shouldn’t put this out because 21 people were slaughtered," he wrote. "Nobody thought it was a bad idea? No, because as long as it makes money, that’s all these corporations care about."

Walmart apologizes amid backlash

Walmart said in a statement to USA TODAY that it removed the shirts as soon as the company found out people were offended.

"Our stores have always been central to the communities they serve, and our store managers have the ability to purchase merchandise that is locally relevant," the store said. "Though well intended, we apologize for any distress this item has caused. The store immediately removed the item once we learned that it was perceived negatively by some customers."

Cross, the father who condemned the company for selling the shirts, called the store's statement a "blanket half (expletive) apology" and said the company hasn't contacted him.

"They can make a true difference, they can make notable change, but that requires work that I don’t believe they will put in," he wrote. "It was a decision that was made with no regard for those of us who lost our kids/family in the shooting."

He said humans and the nation must do better.

"We have to do better as a species," he wrote. "We have to change policies, practices, and our overall perception of what these shootings, and the politicians that enable them mean!"

The latest on Uvalde school shooting

A social media user replied to Cross’ thread about the shirts with an edit of the photo criticizing police for their slow response during the shootings. The X user edited the photo so it read “Where the heck is the Uvalde, Texas police?”

To that, Cross wrote “Facts!”

Community members have long criticized police for their response the day of the shooting. Last month, some parents walked out of a city council meeting where city leaders presented findings that police handled the tragedy properly.

Jesse Prado, a former Austin police detective, said last month that officers and Uvalde Independent School District police followed policies and procedures, and they should not be held accountable.

"One officer showed sacrifice and duty," Prado said at the time.

Kim Rubio, whose daughter Lexi Rubio died that day, spoke out against the findings.

“You said they could not go in, that it was for their safety," she said. "It was for the safety of the children. How dare you? It was for the safety of the children. ... They chose their lives over the lives of students and teachers."

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her at[email protected].