Uvalde Police Chief Who Delayed Response to School Shooting Set to Join City Council

Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo claimed to believe that the shooter had gone from “active shooter” to “barricaded”, thus delaying officer response. Arredondo had been elected on May 7th to the Uvalde City Council with almost 70% of the vote.

Arredondo is the Chief of Police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and oversees eight schools.

While Arredondo was under the assumption that the shooter at Robb Elementary was no longer active but alone barricaded in a classroom, children were calling 911 begging for police.

In a press conference on Friday, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Col. Steven McCraw told reporters, “The on-scene commander at that time believed that it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject. From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision. Period. There’s no excuse for that.” Arredondo was not present at the press conference and has not been heard from publicly since Wednesday.

Specially trained border patrol agents who arrived almost 40 minutes after the shooting began got permission to go in and confront the gunman. It is being reported that the border patrol agents asked “What is your problem?” before being granted permission.

Many in the community want to hear from Arrendondo. New York Post reported:

“Pete Arredondo is a coward. He didn’t do his job. He failed the children,” said neighbor Lydia Torres, 56.

Torres spoke as local police spent the day guarding Arredondo’s home. The embattled chief repeatedly declined to comment Saturday…

Local cops have kept guard outside Arredondo’s house around the clock.

“I do not understand why the police from Uvalde, Texas, are guarding Pete Arredondo’s home,” Torres said. “He is hiding in his home, requesting the PD patrol the area and guard his home day and night. He should come out and speak up.”

The emotional Uvalde woman said parents of kids killed by Ramos deserved an explanation from Arredondo about why he didn’t storm the classroom sooner.

Information continues to come out about this tragedy. Many Americans are furious about the reported poor response and conflicting timelines. Politicians have seized on this moment as well to push various narratives.