Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell announced in a news release that school district police chief Pedro "Pete" Arredondo was put on administrative leave due to criticism over his response to the fatal school shooting at Robb Elementary.
In the announcement, Harrell wrote that because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when he would receive the results of the investigations, he made the decision to suspend Arredondo. He added that Lt. Mike Hernandez was assuming the duties of the UCISD Chief of Police.
Uvalde Chief of Police on Leave
The superintendent said that he had intended to wait for an investigation to be finished before making personnel decisions. However, he said that at the time of his announcement, he still had no access to details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies.
On Tuesday, Arredondo testified behind closed doors in Austin to a Texas House committee seeking answers to what happened on May 21 when 19 school children and two teachers were fatally shot. However, the police chief has not yet spoken publicly about his decision-making on the day of the horrifying incident, as per CNN.
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw and parents in the Uvalde community criticized Arredondo for his response to the tragic shooting that occurred last month. Arredondo entered Robb Elementary School only a few minutes after the gunman on May 24, but police officers did not breach the classroom and take out the suspect for more than 70 minutes.
On Tuesday, McCraw called out the delay as an "abject failure," saying that three minutes after the suspect entered the west building, there was a sufficient number of armed officers wearing body armor ready to isolate, distract, and neutralize the subject.
According to Fox News, McCraw added that the only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Rooms 111 and 112, was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.
Failed Response to Mass Shooting
Despite there being a ballistic shield and several officers armed with rifles at the scene during the shooting, Arredondo decided to hold back and wait for more tactical gear, firepower, and keys to open the door. McCraw argued that these were not necessary at the time because the door was unlocked the whole time.
Reports noted that Arredondo, in his only public comments since the shooting, said that he did not "issue any orders" and did not consider himself the incident commander. McCraw testified to a state Senate hearing that there were enough police at the scene of the crime to have stopped the gunman shortly after he entered the building.
On Tuesday, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about the shooting to scapegoat local law enforcement and deflect scrutiny from the state's response to the attack.
The decision to remove Arredondo from his post comes amid uncertainty over his future on the Uvalde city council. He was newly elected to the council last month and was sworn in one week after the massacre at Robb Elementary. He has yet to attend a council meeting and had requested a leave of absence, BBC reported.
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