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

The police chief who reportedly made the call not to instantly ship officers into Robb Elementary School to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council just three weeks ago after working on a platform of communication and outreach to the community. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District, stopped at the very least 19 officers from breaking into the school as the gunman opened hearth for a minimum of an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the youngsters were not below an lively menace, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, stated Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the best determination. It was a incorrect determination. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a news convention. “There were plenty of officers to do what needed to be executed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra gear and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

According to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active risk, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that will let him into the varsity. Throughout this time, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the attack. Nineteen college students and two teachers had been killed.

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

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

As the neighborhood demands 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 at the United Independent 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 school district, in response to the Uvalde Leader-Information.

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

“We need to make sure we are available wherever we're wanted,” Arredondo instructed the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a profitable bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering nearly 70 p.c of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am ready to hit the ground working. I have plenty of concepts, and I undoubtedly have plenty of drive,” Arredondo instructed the outlet this month.

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

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