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

The police chief who reportedly made the call not to immediately send officers into Robb Elementary Faculty to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's City Council just three weeks in the past after working on a platform of communication and outreach to the group. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial Faculty District, stopped not less than 19 officers from breaking into the varsity because the gunman opened fire for no less than an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the youngsters were not below an energetic menace, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Division of Public Security, mentioned Friday. 

“From the good thing about hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the suitable choice. It was a unsuitable choice. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information convention. “There were loads of officers to do what needed to be completed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted extra equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

According to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no energetic risk, so instead of sending officers in, he spent time finding keys that would let him into the college. During this time, however, the shooter had unencumbered access to carry out the assault. Nineteen students and two lecturers were killed.

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

Arredondo didn't instantly return a request for comment by NBC News.

As the neighborhood demands solutions and pieces together a shaky and conflicting timeline of occasions, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working as 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 faculty district, according to the Uvalde Leader-Information.

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

Arredondo told the Chief-News that he was desirous to serve the group, saying he was committed to establishing a powerful working relationship with the three officers he could be leading. 

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

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

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

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the ground running. I have plenty of ideas, and I undoubtedly have plenty of drive,” Arredondo instructed the outlet this month.

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

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