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

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

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

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children weren't below an lively risk, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Safety, mentioned Friday. 

“From the advantage of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the suitable determination. It was a unsuitable determination. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a information conference. “There have been loads of officers to do what needed to be finished, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In keeping with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he spent time finding keys that would let him into the varsity. During this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two teachers had been killed.

Arredondo was not current amongst law enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly identify him.

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

As the group demands 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 Unbiased 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 school district, in line with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

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 informed the Chief-Information that he was desirous to serve the community, saying he was committed to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he would be leading. 

“We need to be sure we can be found 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 different candidates, garnering nearly 70 % of the vote in the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-Information. 

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 bottom working. I've plenty of concepts, and I definitely have loads of drive,” Arredondo instructed the outlet this month.

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

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