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

The police chief who reportedly made the call not to immediately ship officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council simply three weeks ago after running on a platform of communication and outreach to the group. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the varsity because the gunman opened fire for at the very least an hour.

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

“From the benefit of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the right choice. It was a unsuitable resolution. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information conference. “There were loads of officers to do what needed to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed more gear and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

Based on McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic threat, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he hung out discovering keys that may let him into the school. During this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to carry out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics had been killed.

Arredondo was not current amongst legislation enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly title him.

Arredondo did not immediately return a request for remark by NBC News.

Because the group demands solutions and items together a shaky and conflicting timeline of occasions, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working because the police captain on the United Independent 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, according to the Uvalde Leader-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 told the Leader-News that he was desperate to serve the community, saying he was dedicated to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he can be main. 

“We need to make sure we can be found wherever we are needed,” Arredondo informed the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a profitable bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering almost 70 % of the vote within the May 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom operating. I've plenty of ideas, and I definitely have plenty 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, based in Chicago.