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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision not to instantly send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City 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 Impartial School District, stopped no less than 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened fire for not less than an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the kids weren't below an active menace, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, mentioned Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the suitable determination. It was a mistaken resolution. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a news conference. “There have been plenty of officers to do what wanted to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra gear and extra officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active risk, so instead of sending officers in, he frolicked discovering keys that will let him into the school. During this time, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen college students and two teachers had been killed.

Arredondo was not current among law enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly name him.

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

As the neighborhood calls for solutions and items 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 Impartial Faculty District in Laredo, Texas, about 140 miles south of Uvalde, Arredondo returned to his hometown in April 2020, when he accepted the place of chief of police for the Uvalde faculty district, in keeping with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

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-News that he was eager to serve the community, saying he was committed to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We wish to be certain that 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 City Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering practically 70 percent of the vote within the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm ready to hit the bottom working. I have loads of concepts, and I positively 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 taking pictures.

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