Pete Arredondo, a former school district police chief in Uvalde, Texas, has been indicted and arrested for his actions during the police response to the 2022 school shooting in which a gunman killed 19 children and two educators, the Uvalde County sheriff said Thursday.
“Mr. Arredondo is currently in our custody,” police chief Ruben Nolasco said in the text message, adding that Mr. Arredondo is being held for “child abandonment/endangerment.”
Christina Mitchell, the Uvalde County district attorney, and Mr. Arredondo’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
The indictment, which came more than two years after the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School, found failures in the police response beyond poor decision-making, alleging that Mr. Arredondo, who was in charge of the six-person department with jurisdiction over the Uvalde school, was criminally responsible for his actions that day.
Even before grand juries began convening this year, the police response was the subject of overlapping investigations, including by the U.S. Justice Department, a Texas Legislature committee and an investigator hired by the city of Uvalde. Each found serious flaws in the actions of officers responding to the Robb Elementary shooting.
Ms. Mitchell conducted her own investigation and presented evidence to the grand jury.
Mr. Arredondo was one of the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary School, just minutes after the gunman entered the school through an unlocked door and began shooting at students and teachers in a pair of classrooms connected by AR-15 style rifle.
He and other school officers, along with others from the local Police Department, moved toward the sound of gunfire, but when they reached the classroom door, the gunman opened fire on them and they had to retreat. to a safe place at the end of the hallway.
Mr. Arredondo, the left his radio in the car as he rushed into the school, he said he doesn’t believe he is responsible at the scene and also took steps to evacuate other areas of the building to save more lives.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
