Uvalde mass shooting (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
As the world still continues to grieve the heartbreaking loss of 21 people in the mass shooting that occurred in Uvalde, Texas, increasing criticism is being directed towards local law enforcement, specifically the Uvalde School District Police Chief. While approached by CNN cameras for a statement regarding the lack of initial response and follow-up in the Uvalde mass shooting, the school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, refused to answer any questions about the matter.
@CNN reports, despite the mounting public outrage and harsh criticism, Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the Uvalde School District Police Chief, has avoided the public eye since the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary—and he continued to avoid answering questions about the shooting when CNN approached him earlier today. Based on recent reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS,) Arredondo has continued to ignore the request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers, who are investigating the case.
When confronted outside his home by CNN’s Aaron Cooper, Arredondo casually said “I am in contact with DPS every day,” which has proven by DPS to be completely false. Additionally, he told CNN anchor Shimon Prokupecz that the reason he has not released any further information is because he wanted to wait until all of the funerals of the Uvalde victims had taken place. “We’re going to be respectful to the family. We’re going to do that eventually. Whenever this is done and the families quit grieving, then we’ll do that obviously,” Arredondo said.
You’ll recall that last week just after the mass shooting, DPS identified Pete Arredondo as the commanding officer who instructed police officers not to force their way into classrooms and instead wait for additional reinforcements and backup—despite the children inside repeatedly calling 911 begging for help.
It wasn’t until a Customs and Border Protection tactical team entered the classrooms using a janitor’s keys, that they were finally able to shoot Salvador Ramos 78 minutes later. DPS Director Steven McCraw said later that Arredondo made the “wrong decision” by deciding to treat the situation like a barricaded suspect rather than an active shooter.
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