Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response to Texas capturing to affix Metropolis Council

The police chief who reportedly made the call to not instantly send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council simply three weeks in the past after operating on a platform of communication and outreach to the neighborhood. 

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

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children weren't beneath an energetic risk, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Safety, mentioned Friday. 

“From the advantage of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the suitable resolution. It was a wrong decision. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a information conference. “There have been loads of officers to do what needed to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted more gear and more officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

Based on 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, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics had been killed.

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

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

As the neighborhood demands answers and items collectively 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 at the United Independent Faculty District in Laredo, Texas, about 140 miles south of Uvalde, Arredondo returned to his hometown in April 2020, when he accepted the position of chief of police for the Uvalde faculty district, in accordance with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

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

Arredondo informed the Leader-Information that he was desirous to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he would be main. 

“We need to be sure that we are available wherever we're needed,” Arredondo told 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 % of the vote within the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom running. I have plenty 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 shooting.

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