‘Very angry’: Uvalde locals grapple with faculty chief’s role

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — The blame for an excruciating delay in killing the gunman at a Texas elementary faculty — whilst mother and father exterior begged police to hurry in and panicked children known as 911 from inside — has been placed with the school district’s homegrown police chief.

It’s left residents in the small metropolis of Uvalde struggling to reconcile what they know of the well-liked native lawman after the director of state police said that the commander on the scene — Pete Arredondo — made the “flawed decision” final week to not breach a classroom at Robb Elementary College sooner, believing the gunman was barricaded inside and kids weren’t in danger.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Security, said on the Friday information convention that after following the gunman into the building, officers waited over an hour to breach the classroom. Nineteen youngsters and two lecturers have been killed within the taking pictures.

Arredondo, who grew up in Uvalde and graduated from high school here, was set to be sworn in Tuesday to his new spot on the City Council after being elected earlier this month, however Mayor Don McLaughlin stated in a statement Monday that the assembly wouldn’t happen. It wasn’t immediately clear whether or not the swearing-in would occur privately or at a later date.

“Pete Arredondo was duly elected to the City Council,” McLaughlin said within the statement. “There is nothing within the Metropolis Charter, Election Code, or Texas Constitution that prohibits him from taking the oath of office.”

The 50-year-old Arredondo has spent much of a nearly 30-year career in legislation enforcement in Uvalde, returning in 2020 to take the top police job on the faculty district.

When Arredondo was a boy, Maria Gonzalez used to drive him and her youngsters to the same faculty where the taking pictures occurred. “He was an excellent boy,” she stated.

“He dropped the ball possibly because he didn't have enough experience. Who is aware of? Persons are very angry,” Gonzalez stated.

Another lady in the neighborhood the place Arredondo grew up started sobbing when requested about him. The girl, who didn’t wish to give her name, stated one of her granddaughters was on the school through the taking pictures however wasn’t harm.

Juan Torres, a U.S. Military veteran who was visibly upset with studies coming out in regards to the response, stated he knew Arredondo from high school.

“You sign up to respond to those sorts of situations” Torres stated. “If you are scared, then don’t be a police officer. Go flip burgers.”

After his election to the non-salaried spot on the City Council, Arredondo informed the Uvalde Chief-News earlier this month that he was “able to hit the ground running.”

“I have plenty of concepts, and I definitely have plenty of drive,” he said, including he wished to focus not solely on town being fiscally accountable but additionally making sure road repairs and beautification tasks occur.

At a candidates’ forum earlier than his election, Arredondo mentioned: “I assume to me nothing is complicated. All the pieces has a solution. That answer begins with communication. Communication is key.”

McCraw mentioned Friday that minutes after the gunman entered the varsity, metropolis cops entered through the identical door. Over the course of greater than an hour, legislation enforcement from a number of businesses arrived on the scene. Finally, officers stated, a U.S. Border Patrol tactical group used a janitor’s key to unlock the classroom door and kill the gunman.

McCraw said that college students and lecturers had repeatedly begged 911 operators for assist while Arredondo instructed greater than a dozen officers to attend in a hallway. That directive — which matches in opposition to established active-shooter protocols — prompted questions about whether more lives had been lost as a result of officers didn’t act quicker.

Two law enforcement officers have stated that because the gunman fired at college students, legislation enforcement officers from different businesses urged Arredondo to allow them to move in because kids were in peril, The officers spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they'd not been authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

McLaughlin, the Uvalde mayor, pushed again on officers’ claims, together with remarks remodeled the weekend by Texas’ lieutenant governor, that they weren’t advised the reality about the bloodbath. McLaughlin said in his Monday assertion that local legislation enforcement hadn’t made any public feedback concerning the investigation’s specifics or misled anyone.

Arredondo started out his career in legislation enforcement working for the Uvalde Police Division. After spending 16 years there, he went to Laredo, a border metropolis located 130 miles (209 kilometers) miles to the south, where he worked at the Webb County Sheriff’s Workplace and then for a local school district, in keeping with a 2020 article in the Uvalde Chief-Information on his return to his hometown to take the college district police chief job. The school district’s board of trustees authorized his appointment to the spot.

According to the Uvalde school district’s website, the police power led by Arredondo additionally has 5 different officers and a safety guard.

Ray Garner, the police chief of the district in Laredo the place Arredondo worked, instructed the San Antonio Categorical-Information in a narrative printed after the Uvalde taking pictures that when Arredondo worked in the Laredo district he was “easy to speak to” and was involved about the students.

“He was a wonderful officer down right here,” Garner told the newspaper . “Down right here, we do a variety of training on active-shooter situations, and he was concerned in these.”

Arredondo, who spoke only briefly at two brief news conferences on the day of the taking pictures, appeared behind state officers talking at news conferences over the subsequent two days, but was not current at McCraw’s Friday news convention.

After that news convention, members of the media converged at Arredondo’s dwelling and police cruisers took up posts there. At one point, a person answering the door at Arredondo’s house instructed a reporter for The Related Press that Arredondo was “indisposed.”

“The truth will come out,” said the man before closing the door.

On Tuesday, Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Safety, stated Arredondo had not responded to DPS interview requests for 2 days, Considine mentioned.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Uvalde, mentioned on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he’s asking a lot of questions after “so many issues went incorrect.”

He stated one household advised him that a first responder told them that their child, who was shot in the again, likely bled out. “So, absolutely, these errors could have led to the passing away of these children as nicely,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said while the problem of which regulation enforcement agency had or should have had operational management is a “significant” concern of his, he’s additionally “suggested” to McCraw “that it’s not honest to put it on the local (school district) cop.”

“On the finish of the day, everyone failed here,” Gutierrez stated.

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Related Press writer Stengle contributed from Dallas, and likewise contributing had been Curt Anderson in Miami, Jim Vertuno in Austin, Mike Balsamo in Washington and Elliott Spagat in Uvalde.

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More on the college shooting in Uvalde, Texas: https://apnews.com/hub/school-shootings