Pete Arredondo was elected to the Uvalde City Council a few weeks before the May 24 shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The head of the Uvalde, Texas school police force has stepped down from his City Council seat amid criticism over response to a mass shooting at an elementary school, according to the resignation announced by the city government.
Pete Arredondo was elected to the City Council of Uvalde a few weeks ago May 24 taken 19 children and two teachers were killed, leaving the small town in mourning.
Arredondo said in the letter released on Saturday that he would resign “to further minimize distraction” in Uvalde. His plans to resign were first reported by Uvalde Leader-News.
Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a state Senate hearing last month that Arredondo, the spot commander in the shooting, made “terrible decisions” and that officers Field officers are not adequately trained, wasting valuable time and potentially life. has been saved.
Uvalde’s government said in a statement that resigning was the “right thing to do” for Arredondo.
Arredondo has said that he never considered himself the commander of the incident and that he did not order police to prevent trespassing on the building.
Outrage over the massacre helped galvanize support in the US Congress for the first massacre federal gun reform for nearly three decades, which President Joe Biden, a Democrat, signed into law on June 25.
Before announcing his plans to step down from his City Council seat, Arredondo was in danger of being sacked after missing several council meetings. The city’s school district last month gave him administrative leave from sheriff duties.
Many parents and relatives of children and staff at Robb Elementary School have expressed anger about delay in police action after the gunman entered the school.
Up to 19 officers waited more than an hour in the hallway before a tactical team led by the US Border Patrol finally entered and killed the 18-year-old gunman.
A state official said last month that police wasted no time finding the keys to the classroom where the shooting took place, but the door that needed to be opened was not locked.
McCraw said parents pleaded with police outside the school to move in and students inside the classroom repeatedly pleaded for help from 911 operators while more than a dozen officers waited in the hallways. . Officials from other agencies urged Arredondo to let them move in because the children were in danger.
“The only thing stopping the passage of dedicated officers into rooms 111 and 112 was the commander at the scene, who decided to put the lives of the officers before the lives of the children,” McCraw said. speak.
