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

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

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

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

“From the advantage of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the proper resolution. It was a incorrect choice. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a information convention. “There were plenty of officers to do what wanted to be executed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra tools and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

Based on McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic threat, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that will let him into the college. Throughout this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered access to carry out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics have been killed.

Arredondo was not present among legislation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly name him.

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

Because the neighborhood calls for 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 because 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 college district, in line with the Uvalde Leader-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 Leader-Information that he was desirous to serve the community, saying he was dedicated to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he could be leading. 

“We wish to be 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 successful bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering almost 70 % of the vote in the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the ground working. I've plenty of ideas, and I definitely have loads 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 taking pictures.

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