Police Chief Pete Arredondo has been placed on administrative leave following his botched response to the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school.
The Uvalde School District Police Chief has been facing calls for dismissal and even arrest after it came to light that he didn’t bring his radio when responding to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School and after it was revealed that officers didn’t storm the classroom where mass murdered Salvador Ramos remained barricaded for more than an hour.
The decision was announced by Dr. Hal Harrell, the superintendent of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, who said the administrative leave was effective immediately.
“From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions. Today, I am still without details of the investigation being conducted by various agencies,” Harrell said as the investigation into the May 24 shooting in Uvalde continues.
“Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigation, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective this on date.”
The superintendent also announced that Lieutenant Mike Hernandez would be taking over Chief Arredondo’s position.
Furthermore, he insisted that the school district is going to search for “qualified candidates” to join the force before the start of the upcoming school year.
Arredondo, who was the incident commander on May 24, came under fire after it was claimed he ordered officers on the scene to stand back and wait for tactical teams instead of storming the classroom in which Ramos had barricaded himself into.
In a condemning speech, Steve McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, branded Arredondo’s actions as “an abject failure” and said the school district police chief “decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children.”
“The only thing stopping a hallway of dedicated officers from entering room 111 and 112 was the on-scene commander, who decided to place the lives of officers before the lives of children. The officers had weapons – the children had none. The officers had body armor – the children had none,” McCraw said.
McCraw also insisted that the door to the classroom in question was unlocked the entire time despite previous allegations in which Arredondo’s department claimed the door was locked.
“One hour, 14 minutes and eight seconds. That’s how long the children waited and the teachers waited,” McCraw added.
“While they waited, the on-scene commander waited for radios and rifles, waited for shields, and waited for SWAT. Lastly, he waited for a key that was never needed.”
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