Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response to Texas taking pictures to hitch City Council

The police chief who reportedly made the decision to not immediately send officers into Robb Elementary College to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council just three weeks ago after operating on a platform of communication and outreach to the neighborhood. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the varsity because the gunman opened fire for at the very least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the kids weren't under an energetic menace, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Security, said Friday. 

“From the advantage of hindsight where I’m sitting now, after all, it was not the right choice. It was a wrong choice. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw mentioned at a news conference. “There have been plenty of officers to do what wanted to be accomplished, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed more equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

According to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic risk, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he frolicked finding keys that would let him into the school. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered entry to hold out the attack. Nineteen students and two academics were killed.

Arredondo was not present among legislation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly name him.

Arredondo did not immediately return a request for comment by NBC News.

Because the community calls for 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 on the United Impartial Faculty District in Laredo, Texas, about 140 miles south of Uvalde, Arredondo returned to his hometown in April 2020, when he accepted the place of chief of police for the Uvalde college district, in line with the Uvalde Chief-Information.

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

Arredondo told the Leader-Information that he was desirous to serve the community, saying he was dedicated to establishing a robust working relationship with the three officers he could be leading. 

“We want to be sure that we are available wherever we're needed,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

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

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

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the bottom running. I have plenty of concepts, and I definitely have loads of drive,” Arredondo instructed 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 Information Digital, primarily based in Chicago.