Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response to Texas shooting to join City Council

The police chief who reportedly made the decision not to instantly ship officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council simply three weeks in the past after running on a platform of communication and outreach to the community. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened fire for not less than an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the kids were not below an energetic menace, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday. 

“From the good thing about hindsight where I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the proper choice. It was a unsuitable resolution. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a news conference. “There have been plenty of officers to do what needed to be carried out, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra gear and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active risk, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he spent time discovering keys that may let him into the college. Throughout this time, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics had been killed.

Arredondo was not current amongst regulation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly identify him.

Arredondo didn't instantly return a request for comment by NBC News.

Because the group demands solutions and items collectively a shaky and conflicting timeline of occasions, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working as the police captain on the United Independent Faculty District in Laredo, Texas, about 140 miles south of Uvalde, Arredondo returned to his hometown in April 2020, when he accepted the place of chief of police for the Uvalde faculty district, in line with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

The previous chief, Leo Flores, resigned after being arrested on costs of unlawfully carrying a gun in a bar and threatening an officer, the newspaper reported. 

Arredondo instructed the Chief-News that he was desirous to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he would be main. 

“We wish to make sure that we can be found wherever we are wanted,” Arredondo instructed the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his native likability led to a profitable bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering almost 70 % of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

The chief campaigned, largely door-to-door, on communication and outreach “to those in want,” the newspaper said. 

“I’m very excited, I am ready to hit the ground operating. I have plenty of concepts, and I positively have loads of drive,” Arredondo instructed the outlet this month.

Arredondo is scheduled to be sworn onto the council on Tuesday, exactly one week after the Uvalde shooting.

Safia Samee Ali is a reporter for NBC Information Digital, based mostly in Chicago.