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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision to not instantly send officers into Robb Elementary College 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 community. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial School District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the college as the gunman opened fire for a minimum of an hour.

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

“From the benefit of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the precise decision. It was a fallacious determination. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a news conference. “There were loads of officers to do what needed to be done, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra tools and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

According to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active risk, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he spent time discovering keys that may let him into the school. Throughout this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the assault. Nineteen college students and two academics were killed.

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

Arredondo didn't immediately return a request for comment by NBC News.

As the group calls for solutions and pieces together 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 School 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, based on the Uvalde Leader-News.

The former 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 advised the Leader-Information that he was wanting to serve the community, saying he was committed to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We wish to be sure we are available wherever we're 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 nearly 70 p.c of the vote within the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am ready to hit the ground operating. I have loads of concepts, and I definitely have loads of drive,” Arredondo told the outlet this month.

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

Safia Samee Ali is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based mostly in Chicago.