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

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District, stopped a minimum of 19 officers from breaking into the varsity because the gunman opened hearth for no less than an hour.

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

“From the advantage of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the correct resolution. It was a flawed choice. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw stated at a information conference. “There were loads of officers to do what wanted to be achieved, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted more equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at the moment."

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic menace, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he frolicked finding keys that may let him into the varsity. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the assault. Nineteen college students and two academics were killed.

Arredondo was not current among law enforcement officials standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw did not explicitly identify him.

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

As the group 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 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 college district, in keeping with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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

Arredondo advised the Leader-Information that he was desperate to serve the neighborhood, saying he was dedicated to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he could be main. 

“We wish to be certain that we are available wherever we are needed,” Arredondo told the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his native likability led to a successful bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering almost 70 percent of the vote in the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Leader-News. 

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom working. 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, precisely one week after the Uvalde taking pictures.

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