Former Uvalde school police chief indicted in botched response to shooting
2024-06-27T22:34:02.396ZCrosses adorn a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., on May 26, 2022. (Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images) The former police chief of the school police force in Uvalde, Tex., has been indicted in connection with the botched response to the 2022 shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary.Uvalde County jail officials confirmed that Pedro “Pete” Arredondo was booked at the facility on 10 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child shortly before 5 p.m. local time on Thursday.Local media reported a former officer, Adrian Gonzales, was also indicted. The charges were first reported by the San Antonio Express-News. District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not return requests for comment.The attack was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Texas leaders initially praised the law enforcement response but later acknowledged officers had waited 77 minutes to confront the 18-year-old gunman, sparking outrage.In January, the U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing 575-page report that criticized local police commanders and state law enforcement for not immediately entering the classroom and killing the gunman. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that “lives would have been saved” if officers had responded quickly.Police officers arrived at the school but quickly retreated in the face of gunfire, deciding to treat a gunman as a barricaded suspect and wait for backup. During that time, officers spent about 40 minutes searching for a key to a classroom space that, the federal reviewers concluded, was probably unlocked the entire time.From early on, much of the blame centered on Arredondo, who at the time led the Uvalde school system police force. The former chief repeatedly told officers who were trying to enter the classroom to stop, the review found, because he believed there were other victims from nearby classrooms who should be removed first.Arredondo has defended his response, saying he did not believe he was in charge. But the Justice Department review concluded that Arredondo was the “de facto on scene commander” and fell short.The poorly organized response also hampered attempts by emergency medical personnel to quickly treat victims. Delays in the medical response were outlined in a 2022 Washington Post investigation with the Texas Tribune and ProPublica.A Post investigation found that the overall law enforcement delay was driven by the inaction of an array of senior and supervising law enforcement officers, some of whom remain on the job and had direct knowledge a shooting was taking place inside classrooms but failed to swiftly stop the gunman.
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The former police chief of the school police force in Uvalde, Tex., has been indicted in connection with the botched response to the 2022 shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary.
Uvalde County jail officials confirmed that Pedro “Pete” Arredondo was booked at the facility on 10 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child shortly before 5 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Local media reported a former officer, Adrian Gonzales, was also indicted. The charges were first reported by the San Antonio Express-News. District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not return requests for comment.
The attack was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Texas leaders initially praised the law enforcement response but later acknowledged officers had waited 77 minutes to confront the 18-year-old gunman, sparking outrage.
In January, the U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing 575-page report that criticized local police commanders and state law enforcement for not immediately entering the classroom and killing the gunman. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that “lives would have been saved” if officers had responded quickly.
Police officers arrived at the school but quickly retreated in the face of gunfire, deciding to treat a gunman as a barricaded suspect and wait for backup. During that time, officers spent about 40 minutes searching for a key to a classroom space that, the federal reviewers concluded, was probably unlocked the entire time.
From early on, much of the blame centered on Arredondo, who at the time led the Uvalde school system police force. The former chief repeatedly told officers who were trying to enter the classroom to stop, the review found, because he believed there were other victims from nearby classrooms who should be removed first.
Arredondo has defended his response, saying he did not believe he was in charge. But the Justice Department review concluded that Arredondo was the “de facto on scene commander” and fell short.
The poorly organized response also hampered attempts by emergency medical personnel to quickly treat victims. Delays in the medical response were outlined in a 2022 Washington Post investigation with the Texas Tribune and ProPublica.
A Post investigation found that the overall law enforcement delay was driven by the inaction of an array of senior and supervising law enforcement officers, some of whom remain on the job and had direct knowledge a shooting was taking place inside classrooms but failed to swiftly stop the gunman.
