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

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the varsity because the gunman opened fireplace for at the least an hour.

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

“From the advantage of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the right decision. It was a incorrect 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 completed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted more tools and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no lively risk, so instead of sending officers in, he spent time discovering keys that would let him into the school. During this time, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed.

Arredondo was not current amongst law enforcement officers 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 community 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 as the police captain on 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 faculty district, in line with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

The former 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 instructed the Leader-News that he was eager to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he could be leading. 

“We want to be certain we can be found wherever we are wanted,” Arredondo advised 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 almost 70 p.c of the vote within the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-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 operating. I have plenty of concepts, and I positively have loads of drive,” Arredondo advised 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 News Digital, primarily based in Chicago.