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

The police chief who reportedly made the call to not immediately 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 Faculty District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the school because the gunman opened fire for at the very least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children were not beneath an lively threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the proper decision. It was a flawed determination. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a information conference. “There were plenty of officers to do what needed to be done, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted more tools and more officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic threat, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he hung out finding keys that would let him into the school. During this time, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two lecturers had been killed.

Arredondo was not current among law enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly name him.

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

Because the community calls for answers and pieces together a shaky and conflicting timeline of events, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working because 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 position of chief of police for the Uvalde college district, in line with the Uvalde Chief-News.

The previous 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 instructed the Chief-News that he was desperate to serve the community, saying he was dedicated to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he would be leading. 

“We want to be sure we are available wherever we are wanted,” Arredondo informed the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his native likability led to a profitable bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three other candidates, garnering practically 70 % of the vote in the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-Information. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the ground running. I've loads of concepts, and I definitely 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, based in Chicago.