The Texas school district police chief, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in a school shooting, has been placed on administrative leave, the superintendent announced.
Pete Arredondo, the police chief of the consolidated independent school district of Uvalde, has been criticized for his handling of the shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24 that killed 19 third and fourth graders and two teachers, and for the decision to delay police entry into the school. the classrooms where the gunman carried out the attack. Arredondo acted as commander of the incident at the scene of the shooting.
The permit will take effect immediately, the school district said in a statement on Wednesday. Lieutenant Mike Hernandez will take over as chief of police, said Dr. Hal Harrell, superintendent of the consolidated independent school district of Uvalde.
“From the start of this horrific event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was completed before making staffing decisions,” Harrell said. “Today I am still without details of the investigations being carried out by the different agencies. Due to the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown moment of when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to put the head Arredondo in charge. effective administrative leave on that date. “
Arredondo was the only witness in the hearing on the shooting during an executive session by the Texas State House of Representatives on Tuesday. Later that night, Uvalde City Council unanimously denied Arredondo’s request for leave of absence for future meetings. Arredondo had been appointed councilor at the end of May.
During a hearing in the state Senate Tuesday on school safety, police training and social media after the shooting, Texas Department of Homeland Security director Steven McCraw read aloud a transcript of police radio communications, revealing that almost an hour after the gunman entered the city. the school, an officer told the police chief, “People will ask why we are taking so long.”
“We are trying to preserve life,” Arredondo replied, according to the transcript.
Parents and community members on Monday called for Arredondo’s resignation, and several argued that law enforcement should be partly responsible for the tragedy because of what was described as inappropriate decision-making. .
Earlier this month, Arredondo told The Texas Tribune that he was not considered the scene commander on the day of the shooting and that no one had told him about the 911 calls they received during the 77 minutes before the shooting. armed man shot down.
“We responded to the information we had and we had to adapt to everything we were facing,” he said. “Our goal was to save as many lives as we could, and the removal of students from the classrooms by everyone involved saved more than 500 of our students and teachers from Uvalde before we had access to the shooter and we removed the threat. “.
According to a preliminary assessment, state investigators believe the decision to delay police entry into the classroom was made to allow time for the protection team to arrive at the scene, an official said in a statement. behind closed doors of the head of the Texas Department. of Public Safety told ABC News earlier this month.
However, waiting for protective equipment contradicts the protocols of active shooters that have been adopted by law enforcement across the country over the past 20 years.
Aaron Katersky and Bonnie Mclean of ABC News contributed to this report.