The police chief at the center of controversy, sparked by officers’ response to the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, is slated to be sworn onto the Uvalde City Council next week.
Peter Arredondo earlier this month defeated three other candidates, nabbing nearly 70% of the vote in the May 7 election, to claim his seat on the council, according to the Uvalde Leader-News. He also serves as the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, tasked with overseeing the six-officer police force spanning eight different schools.
Texas Department of Public Safety director Steven McCraw said the police chief made the “wrong decision” in the minutes after gunfire erupted inside the Uvalde primary school on Tuesday. It was Arredondo that ordered authorities against engaging with alleged gunman Salvador Ramos. At the time, he believed the 18-year-old suspect “barricaded” himself inside a classroom and that “there were no more children at risk,” McCraw told reporters.
