Uvalde School District Police Chief has been placed on administrative leave following allegations that he was wrong in his response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas, which left 19 students and two teachers dead.
Key points:
- Another officer will take over as the assaulted police chief
- A hearing in the state Senate said Chief Arredondo made “terrible decisions” as the massacre unfolded.
- Students inside called for help from 911 operators while officers waited in a hallway.
Uvalde Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said he laid off Chief of Police Pete Arredondo on leave and that another officer would take over as the assaulted chief.
In a statement, Harrell gave no reason to dismiss Chief Arredondo, but said it was not yet clear when district officials would know the outcome of the investigation into the shooting.
The director of the Texas Department of Homeland Security, Colonel Steven McCraw, said Tuesday in a hearing in the state Senate that Chief Arredondo, the on-site commander, made “terrible decisions” when the massacre took place on May 24.
He said the police response was an “abject failure”.
Three minutes after Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the school, there were enough armed security forces at the scene to stop the gunman, Colonel McCraw said.
However, police officers armed with rifles waited in the hallway of a school for more than an hour while the gunman carried out the massacre.
Texas Department of Homeland Security director Steven McCraw called the police response an “abject fault.” ((Photo by AP / Wong Maye-E))
Colonel McCraw said the classroom door could not be locked from the inside, but there is no indication that officers attempted to open it while the gunman was inside.
According to Colonel McCraw, parents asked police outside the school to move in, and students in the classroom repeatedly called for help from 911 operators while more than a dozen officers waited. in a hallway.
Officers from other agencies urged Chief Arredondo to let them in because the children were in danger.
“The only thing that prevented a corridor of dedicated officers from entering rooms 111 and 112 was the commander at the scene who decided to put the life of the officers before that of the children,” he said.
Posted 53 minutes ago 53 minutes ago Thu, June 23, 2022 at 2:58 am, updated 52 minutes ago, 52 minutes ago, Thu, June 23, 2022 at 2:59 AM