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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision not to immediately ship officers into Robb Elementary College to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council just 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 Impartial School District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened hearth for at the very least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the kids weren't underneath an energetic threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the precise determination. It was a flawed resolution. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information convention. “There have been loads of officers to do what needed to be accomplished, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

Based on McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no lively menace, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he spent time finding keys that may let him into the school. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the assault. Nineteen college students and two teachers were killed.

Arredondo was not current among regulation enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly title him.

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

As the neighborhood demands answers and items collectively a shaky and conflicting timeline of events, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working as the police captain at the United Independent 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 school district, in accordance with the Uvalde Chief-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-Information that he was eager to serve the neighborhood, saying he was dedicated to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he can be main. 

“We want to make certain we are available wherever we're needed,” 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 different candidates, garnering nearly 70 % of the vote within the Might 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am ready to hit the bottom operating. I have plenty of ideas, and I definitely have plenty of drive,” Arredondo told 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 News Digital, primarily based in Chicago.