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

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

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial College District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the school as the gunman opened hearth for at the 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 Division of Public Security, said Friday. 

“From the good thing about hindsight where I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the correct choice. It was a incorrect resolution. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a news convention. “There have been plenty of officers to do what needed to be completed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra tools and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

According to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic menace, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he frolicked discovering keys that may let him into the college. Throughout this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the attack. Nineteen college students and two teachers had been killed.

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

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

As the group demands solutions and items collectively 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 at the United Independent Faculty 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 accordance with the Uvalde Chief-News.

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

Arredondo told the Chief-Information that he was eager to serve the group, saying he was dedicated to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he can be leading. 

“We need to ensure that we can be found wherever we're needed,” Arredondo told the newspaper.

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

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom running. I've plenty of ideas, and I undoubtedly have loads of drive,” Arredondo informed the outlet this month.

Arredondo is scheduled to be sworn onto the council on Tuesday, precisely one week after the Uvalde shooting.

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