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

The police chief who reportedly made the call not to immediately send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty 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 community. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial School District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened hearth for at the very least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the youngsters weren't 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, of course, it was not the precise choice. It was a incorrect decision. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a news convention. “There have been loads of officers to do what needed to be finished, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In keeping with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he hung out finding keys that might let him into the school. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics have been killed.

Arredondo was not current among law enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly title him.

Arredondo didn't instantly return a request for comment by NBC News.

As the group calls for solutions 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 Impartial Faculty 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, in keeping with the Uvalde Leader-Information.

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 can be leading. 

“We want to be sure that we can be found wherever we are wanted,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his native likability led to a successful bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering practically 70 p.c of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm ready to hit the ground working. I have loads of concepts, and I undoubtedly have loads of drive,” Arredondo advised the outlet this month.

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

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