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

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent Faculty District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened fire for not less than an hour.

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

“From the good thing about hindsight the place I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the fitting decision. It was a incorrect determination. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a information convention. “There have been plenty of officers to do what needed to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed extra equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In accordance with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so instead of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that might let him into the school. Throughout this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to carry out the assault. Nineteen students and two academics have been killed.

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

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

Because 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 College 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 accordance with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

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

Arredondo told the Chief-News that he was wanting to serve the group, saying he was dedicated to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he could be main. 

“We wish to ensure that we can be found wherever we are needed,” Arredondo informed the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a profitable bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering almost 70 percent of the vote in the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm ready to hit the bottom running. I have 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, precisely one week after the Uvalde taking pictures.

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