Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response to Texas shooting to join City Council

The police chief who reportedly made the call to not immediately send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council simply three weeks ago after running on a platform of communication and outreach to the neighborhood. 

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

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the youngsters were not underneath an active threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Security, said Friday. 

“From the advantage of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the fitting resolution. It was a flawed resolution. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a news convention. “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 tools and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no lively threat, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he hung out finding keys that may let him into the school. During this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two academics were killed.

Arredondo was not present amongst regulation enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly name him.

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

Because 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 as the police captain at 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 faculty district, according to the Uvalde Leader-Information.

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

Arredondo told the Chief-News that he was desperate to serve the neighborhood, saying he was committed to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he could be main. 

“We need to be certain 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 other candidates, garnering practically 70 % of the vote in the Might 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the ground running. I've loads of ideas, and I definitely have plenty of drive,” Arredondo informed the outlet this month.

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

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