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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision to not instantly send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council just three weeks in the past after working on a platform of communication and outreach to the group. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased College District, stopped at least 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened fireplace for at least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children weren't beneath an active risk, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Safety, stated Friday. 

“From the advantage of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the precise determination. It was a wrong determination. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information convention. “There have been loads of officers to do what needed to be finished, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra tools and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no lively menace, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he frolicked discovering keys that might let him into the varsity. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two lecturers had been killed.

Arredondo was not current among law enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly name him.

Arredondo didn't immediately return a request for remark by NBC News.

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

After working as the police captain on the United Impartial 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 school district, in line with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

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

Arredondo told the Chief-Information that he was wanting to serve the neighborhood, saying he was committed to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We want to be certain we are available wherever we are needed,” Arredondo informed the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his native likability led to a successful bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering almost 70 p.c of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the bottom working. I've plenty of concepts, and I undoubtedly have plenty of drive,” Arredondo informed the outlet this month.

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

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