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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision to not instantly ship officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council just three weeks ago after working on a platform of communication and outreach to the group. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial School District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the varsity as the gunman opened fireplace for no less than an hour.

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

“From the good thing about hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the precise determination. It was a wrong choice. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a news convention. “There have been loads of officers to do what needed to be completed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra gear and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

Based on McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no lively menace, so instead of sending officers in, he hung out finding keys that would let him into the school. During this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen college students and two teachers have been killed.

Arredondo was not present amongst legislation 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 group demands answers and pieces 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 School 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, based on the Uvalde Leader-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 informed the Leader-News that he was wanting to serve the neighborhood, saying he was committed to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We want to be sure we can be found wherever we are wanted,” Arredondo told 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 other candidates, garnering almost 70 % of the vote in the Might 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom running. I have plenty of concepts, and I positively have loads of drive,” Arredondo told 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 Information Digital, primarily based in Chicago.