UVALDE (Texas aEUR”) The Uvalde police chief has resigned from his position on the City Council, just weeks after he was sworn in. He was accused of erring in his response to Robb Elementary School’s mass shooting that killed 19 students and left two teachers dead.
Chief Pete Arredondo informed the Uvalde Leader News on Friday that he has decided to resign for the benefit of the city’s administration. On May 7, he was elected to District 3 Council and was sworn into office aEUR” in an intimate ceremony on May 31, less than a week following the massacre.
“After much thought, I regretfully have to inform all those who voted me goodbye as a member the City Council for District 3. The mayor, city council and city staff must all continue moving forward, without interruptions. Arredondo stated that he believes this is the best decision made for Uvalde.
Arredondo has been on administrative leave since June 22 and has repeatedly declined requests from The Associated Press for comment. George Hyde, his attorney, didn’t immediately respond to Saturday’s emailed inquiries for comment.
Col. Steven McCraw was the director of Texas Department of Public Safety. He told a Senate hearing that Arredondo aEUR’s on-site commander aEUR’ made “terrible choices” during the massacre on May 24, and that the response of the police was an “abject fail.”
McCraw testified that sufficient armed police officers were present on the scene to arrest the gunman three minutes after Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the school. McCraw testified that armed police officers stood in the school corridor for over an hour waiting while the gunman committed the massacre. McCraw stated that the classroom door could not have been locked from the inside. However, there was no evidence that officers attempted to open it while the gunman was inside.
McCraw claims that parents begged the police to enter the school, and students in the classroom repeatedly called 911 operators asking for help. Meanwhile, more than a dozen officers stood in a hallway waiting. Arredondo was urged by officers from other agencies to allow them in, as children were in danger.
McCraw stated that the only thing that prevented a corridor of dedicated officers from getting into room 111 or 112 was the commander on the scene who chose to put the lives and safety of the officers above the children’s.”
Arredondo tried to defend himself, telling the Texas Tribune he did not consider himself commander in command of operations and assumed that someone else was responsible for the law enforcement response. Arredondo claimed he didn’t have his campus radios or police radios, but that he did use his cellphone to call for tactical equipment, a sniper, and classroom keys.
It is still unclear why police took so long to enter the classroom, how they communicated during the attack and what their body camera shows.
Officials declined to provide more information, citing the investigation.
Arredondo, 50 years old, was raised in Uvalde. He spent most of his nearly 30-year-long career in Uvalde as a police officer.
