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

The police chief who reportedly made the decision to not instantly send officers into Robb Elementary School to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council simply 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 Unbiased School District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the school as the gunman opened hearth for at least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children were not under an energetic menace, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, stated Friday. 

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

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic threat, so instead of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that would let him into the college. Throughout this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered access to carry out the assault. Nineteen students and two lecturers have been killed.

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

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

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

After working as the police captain on 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 college district, in keeping with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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

Arredondo advised the Chief-News that he was eager to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We want to be sure that we can be found wherever we're wanted,” Arredondo informed 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 other candidates, garnering nearly 70 p.c of the vote within the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the ground running. I've plenty of concepts, and I undoubtedly 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 taking pictures.

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