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

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

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

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

“From the advantage of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the precise resolution. It was a incorrect choice. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information conference. “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 equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active risk, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he frolicked finding keys that might let him into the school. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed.

Arredondo was not present amongst legislation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly identify him.

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

As the neighborhood demands solutions and pieces 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 on the United Impartial 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 faculty district, based on the Uvalde Chief-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-News that he was eager to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We want to be sure we can be found wherever we're wanted,” Arredondo told 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 percent 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 these in need,” the newspaper stated. 

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the ground running. I have loads 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, precisely one week after the Uvalde capturing.

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