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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision not to immediately send officers into Robb Elementary College to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council simply three weeks in the past after working on a platform of communication and outreach to the neighborhood. 

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

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the kids were not below an active threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, mentioned Friday. 

“From the good thing about hindsight where I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the fitting choice. It was a mistaken choice. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a news conference. “There have been plenty of officers to do what wanted to be completed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

Based on McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he spent time finding keys that will let him into the college. During this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics had been killed.

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

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

As the community demands answers and items collectively 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 School 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 accordance with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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 advised the Leader-Information that he was desperate to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he could be main. 

“We wish to make certain we can be found wherever we are wanted,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a successful bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering nearly 70 % of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm ready to hit the ground running. I have loads of ideas, and I undoubtedly 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 Information Digital, based mostly in Chicago.