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

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District, stopped no less than 19 officers from breaking into the college because the gunman opened fire for at least an hour.

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

“From the benefit of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the precise decision. It was a unsuitable choice. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a information conference. “There were plenty of officers to do what wanted to be accomplished, 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."

In accordance with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic threat, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that will let him into the college. Throughout this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics were killed.

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

Arredondo didn't immediately return a request for comment by NBC Information.

Because the neighborhood calls for answers and items together 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 Unbiased 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 school district, in line with the Uvalde Leader-Information.

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 told the Chief-Information that he was desirous to serve the group, 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 informed 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 other candidates, garnering nearly 70 p.c 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 these in need,” the newspaper said. 

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom running. I've loads of ideas, and I positively have loads of drive,” Arredondo advised 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, primarily based in Chicago.