In Uvalde, Texas, the former school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, has been taken into custody on a child endangerment charge following the law enforcement response to a tragic elementary school shooting in 2022. The incident resulted in the loss of 21 lives, including 19 children, according to officials at the Uvalde jail.
Arredondo, 52, was brought in by law enforcement officers for allegedly abandoning and endangering a child individual, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News. The Uvalde jail confirmed that Arredondo was being booked into the facility on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this year, a 600-page report released by the Justice Department highlighted poor coordination, training, and execution of active shooter protocols by Uvalde officers during the shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. The report stated that the officers failed to engage with the 18-year-old gunman, resulting in delays in eliminating the threat.
The report revealed that there was a significant delay of over 70 minutes between the officers’ arrival at the school and the confrontation with the gunman, during which time the tragic events unfolded. State lawmakers in Texas echoed the Justice Department’s findings, citing systemic failures and poor decision-making in the law enforcement and school district response to the shooting.
Arredondo, identified as the de facto commander at the scene, faced administrative consequences following the incident. He was terminated by the Uvalde school board, with his lawyer claiming that Arredondo was unfairly targeted and subjected to unjust treatment in the aftermath of the shooting.
The tragic events at Robb Elementary School have raised questions about the preparedness and response of law enforcement and school authorities in handling such emergencies in the future. The community continues to mourn the loss of lives and seeks accountability for the failures that occurred during the tragic incident in Uvalde.