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

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

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

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

“From the good thing about hindsight the place I’m sitting now, in fact, it was not the right resolution. It was a mistaken decision. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a information conference. “There were plenty of officers to do what wanted to be performed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In keeping with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic menace, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he hung out finding keys that would let him into the varsity. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the assault. Nineteen college students and two academics had been killed.

Arredondo was not current amongst legislation enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly name him.

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

Because the group calls for solutions and items together 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 college district, according to the Uvalde Leader-Information.

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

Arredondo instructed the Chief-News that he was eager to serve the neighborhood, saying he was committed to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he could be leading. 

“We need to be sure we can be found wherever we're needed,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a successful bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering almost 70 p.c of the vote within the Might 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the ground operating. I've loads 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, exactly one week after the Uvalde taking pictures.

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