The police chief of the Uvalde school district resigns from his post on the City Council following allegations of massive error in responding to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Chief Pete Arredondo said in an interview with Uvalde Leader-News on Friday that he quit his post for the benefit of the city administration. As per a report published by NPR, the 50-year-old police official was voted to represent District 3 on the city council on May 7 and sworn in on May 31, a week after the horrific incident.
Arrendondo told the local media outlet that he decided to step down from his membership in the city council "after much consideration".
"The mayor, the city council, and the city staff must continue to move forward without distractions. I feel this is the best decision for Uvalde," he stated.
The Associated Press has repeatedly asked Arredondo for a response. George Hyde, his attorney, did not immediately reply to questions for comment sent by email on Saturday.
Parents and locals demanded Arredondo's resignation during an emotional school board meeting last week, according to ABC News. Several contended that because of their alleged poor decision-making, police should be held partially responsible for the fatal incident.
Bad Decisions Led to Tragedy
Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety Col. Steven McCraw claimed last month during a state Senate hearing that Arredondo, who was in charge of the situation when the shooting occurred on May 24, made "terrible decisions" and that the actions of the police were an "abject failure."
After Arredondo mistakenly assumed that the scenario had changed from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, 19 law enforcement officers with firearms waited 77 minutes in the hallway outside the classroom containing the shooter, Salvador Ramos, 18, according to law enforcement.
"The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering Room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children," McCraw underscored during the Senate investigation.
The police chief defended himself in a media report, saying that he did not consider himself as the commander in charge of operations and he assumed that someone else took over the law enforcement response. He also told the Texas Tribune that he called for tactical gear, a sniper, and the classroom keys using his cellphone as he did not have police and campus radios during the incident.
Investigations Proceed
During a hearing on the shooting that the Texas state House of Representatives held in an executive session last week, Arredondo provided testimony for nearly five hours. A special Senate committee from Texas is also investigating the massacre at the moment.
The shooting is also being probed into by the Uvalde district attorney and the U.S. The Justice Department is examining the police response.
Outrage over the Texas school shooting helped rally support in the US Congress for the first landmark federal gun regulation in almost 30 years, signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden on June 25.
Arredondo was already on the verge of losing his City Council position after skipping multiple meetings before announcing his plans to step down, per Al Jazeera. He was placed on administrative leave from his post as police chief by the city's school district on June 22.
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