Uvalde, Texas – New questions arise about Uvalde schools police chief Peter Arredondo a week after a gunman sent 19 fourth-graders and two teachers to Robb Elementary.
In a statement to CBS News on Tuesday, the Texas Department of Homeland Security (DPS) said: “The Uvalde and Uvalde Police Department [school district] Police have collaborated with investigators. The head of the Uvalde [school district] Police offered an initial interview, but did not respond to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers two days ago. ”
However, in a statement to CNN on Wednesday, Arredondo said he is “in touch with DPS every day.”
It was Arredondo who ordered officers to stay outside the classroom where the gunman was hiding during the siege.
Questions are being asked as to why Arredondo was in a position to make that decision and why he chose what he did, reports CBS Dallas.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers eventually broke into the classroom area and fatally shot the suspect more than an hour after the shooter entered the building.
Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who officials identified last week as the commander of the incident during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, was sworn in as a City Council member. on Tuesday, the city mayor said. CBS News 11
Texas DPS director Steven McCraw said while waiting for law enforcement to break into the classroom, the children telephoned 911 operators to send police.
Arredondo was elected to UValde City Council on May 7 and was sworn in on Tuesday. “Out of respect for the families who buried their children today and who plan to bury their children in the coming days, no ceremony was held,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a statement.
Following reports that Arredondo would not be sworn in, McLaughlin said Monday in a statement that “there is nothing in the City Charter, Electoral Code or Texas Constitution that prohibits him from taking the oath. As we know, we are currently not we know of no investigation by Mr Arredondo. “
It was unclear whether the law allowed Arredondo to hold both positions and whether he would.
Meanwhile, Uvalde has begun burying his dead.
The first two children killed were buried on Tuesday. Amerie Jo Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10, were fourth-graders.
A funeral will be held on Wednesday for one of the two teachers killed in the attack. Irma Garcia will be buried with her husband, Joe, who died of a heart attack two days after the shooting. Relatives say he succumbed to a broken heart.
The funeral of Jose Flores, 10, will also be held on Wednesday.
School shooting in Uvalde, Texas
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