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 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 group. 

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

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children weren't under an energetic threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Security, said Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the appropriate resolution. It was a incorrect choice. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information convention. “There were loads of officers to do what needed to be finished, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra tools and more officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic risk, so instead of sending officers in, he frolicked finding keys that might let him into the school. Throughout this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the attack. Nineteen students and two teachers had been killed.

Arredondo was not current among regulation enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly title him.

Arredondo didn't instantly return a request for remark by NBC Information.

Because the neighborhood demands answers and items 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 position of chief of police for the Uvalde faculty district, in accordance with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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

Arredondo told the Leader-Information that he was desperate to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he could be main. 

“We want to be sure we are available wherever we're wanted,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a profitable bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering almost 70 percent of the vote within the Might 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am ready to hit the ground working. I have loads of concepts, and I undoubtedly have loads 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 News Digital, based in Chicago.