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

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the college as the gunman opened fire for at the very least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the youngsters were not beneath an energetic threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Security, said Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the proper decision. It was a flawed choice. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated 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 needed more tools and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active risk, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he hung out finding keys that might let him into the school. Throughout this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the attack. Nineteen college students and two teachers were killed.

Arredondo was not present among legislation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly title him.

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

As the neighborhood calls for answers and pieces collectively a shaky and conflicting timeline of occasions, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working because 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 position of chief of police for the Uvalde college district, in keeping with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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 advised the Chief-News that he was desperate to serve the group, saying he was dedicated to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he can be main. 

“We need to be certain 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 other candidates, garnering almost 70 % of the vote within the Might 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm ready to hit the bottom working. I've loads of concepts, 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 capturing.

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