Chief Pete Arredondo was among the first officers to arrive at the school after the May 24 shooting began. According to State Police Chief Steven McCraw, he was also the commander of the incident for the response, which Mr. McCraw called a “tragic failure.” Although police officers from various services entered the school a few minutes after a gunman opened fire on two connected classrooms, they waited more than an hour before confronting and killing him. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the attack. The school district head, Hal Harrell, said in a press release that he planned to “wait until the investigation is completed before making staff decisions.” But he said he had finally made the decision to leave the leader on leave due to “the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown time for when I will receive the results”. The shooting and the police response are currently under investigation, including by Mr. McCraw’s Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Department of Justice, and a special committee in the Texas Legislature. Lieutenant Mike Hernandez will take over as department head, Dr Harrell said. It has six uniformed members and jurisdiction over schools in Uvalde. Chief Arredondo defended his decision and said in an interview this month that he did not believe he was responsible for the response to Robb Elementary School. The law firm representing him declined to comment further Wednesday. The day before the school district decision, Mayor Arredondo had not received permission from Uvalde City Council, where he was elected shortly before the shooting. He has not appeared in public meetings since the attack and without permission could be forced to resign from his post in the Council after three missed meetings. Ahead of Tuesday night’s vote, some of Ovalde’s parents and residents spoke to the council and spoke out strongly against Chief Arendodo. “We have to ask you to do something to get this man out of our faces,” said Berlinda Arreola, Amerie Joe Garza’s grandmother, during the meeting, wearing a shirt with her late granddaughter. “It simply came to our notice then. “Do not make the same mistake he made and fail us.” As the Council signaled that it would refuse Chief Arredondo’s leave of absence, many in the crowd cheered and applauded.
