SAN ANTONIO – In the face of widespread public pressure, the superintendent of the school in Uvalde, Texas, has recommended firing the school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, for his role in the delayed response to a mass shooting that allowed to a gunman stay in two classrooms full of surviving students for more than an hour.
A school board meeting scheduled for Saturday will include a closing session with the district attorney to discuss “a possible action regarding the dismissal for good cause” of Chief Arredondo based on a recommendation from Superintendent Hal Harrell, according to the agenda of the meeting made public on Monday. .
In the weeks following the May 24 shooting, many Uvalde residents have called for the dismissal of Chief Arredondo, who according to the district’s mass shooting response plan was to direct the response, but did not order any officers to enter. in the besieged classrooms while searching. backups, shields and keys. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the attack.
Chief Arredondo, who could not be contacted immediately for comment, had told state investigators that he was not considered the commander of the incident; a state legislative committee blamed the various police agencies that sent officers to the scene for a response it described as chaotic and ineffective. Nearly 400 officers waited about 77 minutes to confront the gunman.
Chief Arredondo had already resigned a seat he had recently won in City Hall and had been put on administrative leave from his job with the school district police.
In a letter to the city when he resigned, he said the decision to resign from his council was “in the best interest of the community” and was taken to “minimize further distractions.” He went on to say that the mayor, City Council and City Council staff “must continue to move forward to unite our community, once again.”
Uvalde’s families have also demanded that the other officers who responded to the shooting scene, some of whom are seen on video in the school hallway, also be held accountable.
This week, Texas State Police announced that it has opened an investigation to determine whether any of the numerous officers who responded to the scene, including state police and Texas Rangers, violated the department’s laws or policies. by not confronting the gunman more quickly. .
The Border Patrol also said it would examine the actions of its agents, who eventually formed a tactical team that entered the classrooms and killed the gunman.
The state legislative committee report, released Sunday, found that a more aggressive police response would not have prevented the deaths of many of the victims, who were shot with an AR-15-style rifle that caused devastating injuries. . But others died on the way to a hospital. “It is plausible that some victims could have survived if they had not had to wait an additional 73 minutes to be rescued,” the report says.
“If I can only tell you one thing it is that there were multiple systemic errors,” state Rep. Dustin Burrows, who chaired the inquiry committee, said at a news conference after the report was released. “Several agents in the hallway or that building knew or should have known he was dying in that classroom, and they should have done more, act urgently.”
Mr. Burrows said it would be up to individual agencies to hold their officers accountable.
The news that the school board would consider firing Chief Arredondo was well received by some relatives of the victims.
“This is a move in the right direction. Let’s start with Arredondo, from above, and go down,” said Vincent Salazar, Layla Salazar’s grandfather, who was murdered at school. “They shouldn’t wait until Saturday”.