Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response to Texas taking pictures to affix Metropolis Council

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial School District, stopped a minimum of 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 under an lively risk, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Security, mentioned Friday. 

“From the good thing about hindsight the place I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the best determination. It was a flawed resolution. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a information convention. “There have been loads of officers to do what wanted to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra tools and extra officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no lively menace, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that may let him into the varsity. Throughout this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the assault. Nineteen students and two lecturers were killed.

Arredondo was not current amongst regulation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly title him.

Arredondo did not instantly return a request for remark by NBC News.

Because the group calls for answers and items together 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 Impartial College District in Laredo, Texas, about 140 miles south of Uvalde, Arredondo returned to his hometown in April 2020, when he accepted the position of chief of police for the Uvalde college district, in response to the Uvalde Leader-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 informed the Chief-News that he was eager to serve the community, saying he was committed to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he would be leading. 

“We wish to make certain we can be found wherever we're needed,” 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 other candidates, garnering almost 70 p.c of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the bottom running. I have loads of ideas, and I undoubtedly have loads of drive,” Arredondo told 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, primarily based in Chicago.