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

The police chief who reportedly made the call not to instantly send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council just three weeks in the past after operating on a platform of communication and outreach to the community. 

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

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

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the appropriate choice. It was a wrong determination. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a news conference. “There were plenty of officers to do what wanted to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

According to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he spent time finding keys that might let him into the varsity. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the assault. Nineteen college students and two lecturers had been killed.

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

Arredondo did not instantly return a request for remark by NBC News.

Because the neighborhood calls for answers and items together a shaky and conflicting timeline of events, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working because 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 position of chief of police for the Uvalde college district, in keeping with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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

Arredondo told the Leader-Information that he was desirous to serve the neighborhood, saying he was dedicated to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he would be main. 

“We need to make certain we can be found wherever we're needed,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a successful bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering nearly 70 percent 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 want,” the newspaper mentioned. 

“I’m very excited, I am ready to hit the ground operating. I've loads of ideas, and I undoubtedly have plenty of drive,” Arredondo instructed the outlet this month.

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

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