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

The police chief who reportedly made the call to not instantly send officers into Robb Elementary School to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council simply three weeks in the past after operating on a platform of communication and outreach to the neighborhood. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Impartial Faculty District, stopped at the least 19 officers from breaking into the school because the gunman opened hearth for a minimum of an hour.

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

“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the fitting determination. It was a wrong determination. Period. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a news conference. “There have been plenty of officers to do what wanted to be performed, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he wanted more tools and more officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In response to McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so as an alternative of sending officers in, he spent time discovering keys that may let him into the school. Throughout this time, nevertheless, the shooter had unencumbered access to hold out the assault. Nineteen students and two lecturers have been killed.

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

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

As the community calls for solutions and pieces together a shaky and conflicting timeline of events, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working as the police captain at the United Unbiased College 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, according to the Uvalde Chief-News.

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

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

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

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a successful bid for a Metropolis Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering almost 70 % 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 need,” the newspaper mentioned. 

“I’m very excited, I'm able to hit the ground running. I've plenty of ideas, and I positively have loads of drive,” Arredondo informed 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 Information Digital, based in Chicago.