Posted on 08/24/2022 9:11:14 PM PDT by Widget Jr
The Uvalde school district's embattled police chief was fired Wednesday following allegations that he made several critical mistakes during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
In a unanimous vote that arrived after months of angry calls for his ouster, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District's board of trustees fired Pete Arredondo in an auditorium of parents and survivors of the May 24 massacre. His ouster came three months to the day after one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history.
Cheers from the crowd followed the vote, and some parents walked out in tears.
"Coward!" parents yelled in a Uvalde auditorium as the meeting got underway.
Arredondo, who has been on leave from the district since June 22, has come under the most intense scrutiny of the nearly 400 officers who rushed to school but waited more than an hour to confront the 18-year-old gunman in a fourth-grade classroom.
Most notably, Arredondo was criticized for not ordering officers to act sooner. Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has said Arredondo was in charge of the law enforcement response to the attack.
Arredondo was not in attendance with his career on the line.
Instead, minutes before the meeting of the Uvalde school board got underway, Arredondo's attorney released a scathing 4,500-word letter that amounted to the police chief's fullest defense to date of his actions. Over 17 defiant pages, Arredondo is not the fumbling school police chief who a damning state investigation blamed for not taking command and wasted time by looking for keys to a likely unlocked door, but a brave officer whose level-headed decisions saved the lives of other students.
It alleges that Arrendondo warned the district about a variety of security issues in the schools a year before the shooting and asserted he wasn't in charge of the scene. The letter also accused Uvalde school officials of putting his safety at risk by not letting him carry a weapon to the school board meeting, citing "legitimate risks of harm to the public and to Chief Arredondo."
"Chief Arredondo is a leader and a courageous officer who with all of the other law enforcement officers who responded to the scene, should be celebrated for the lives saved, instead of vilified for those they couldn't reach in time," Hyde wrote.
Uvalde school officials have been under mounting pressure from victims' families and members of the community, many of whom have called for Arredondo's termination. Superintendent Hal Harrell had first moved to fire Arredondo in July but postponed the decision at the request of the police chief's attorney.
Among those at the meeting was Ruben Torres, father of Chloe Torres, who survived the shooting in room 112 of the school. He said that as a former Marine, he took an oath that he faithfully executed willingly, and did not understand why officers did not take action when leadership failed.
"Right now, being young, she is having a hard time handling this horrific event," Torres said.
Arredondo is the first officer dismissed over the hesitant and fumbling law enforcement response to the May 24 tragedy. Only one other officer — Uvalde Police Department Lt. Mariano Pargas, who was the city's acting police chief on the day of massacre — is known to have been placed on leave for their actions during the shooting.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which had more than 90 state troopers at the scene, has also launched an internal investigation into the response by state police.
School officials have said the campus at Robb Elementary will no longer be used. Instead, campuses elsewhere in Uvalde will serve as temporary classrooms for elementary school students, not all of whom are willing to return to school in-person following the shooting.
School officials say a virtual academy will be offered for students. The district has not said how many students will attend virtually, but a new state law passed last year in Texas following the pandemic limits the number of eligible students receiving remote instruction to "10% of all enrolled students within a given school system."
Schools can seek a waiver to exceed the limit but Uvalde has not done so, according to Melissa Holmes, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.
New measures to improve school safety in Uvalde include "8-foot, non-scalable perimeter fencing" at elementary, middle and high school campuses, according to the school district. Officials say they have also installed additional security cameras, upgraded locks, enhanced training for district staff and improving communication.
However, according to the district's own progress reports, as of Tuesday no fencing had been erected at six of the eight campuses where it was planned, and cameras had only been installed at the high school. Some progress had been made on locks at three of eight campuses, and communication improvement was marked as half complete for each campus.
Uvalde CISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
That's how I've looked at this Uvalde happening. There's a whole lot of incompetent people prior to shooter even being arriving at the school. But ultimately the shooter purposely took the life of those there....unfortunately the police were left with the result of failed parents and family members, failed boards and citizens who did not secure the school in the first place.
The firing was a long time coming. But then, indecision seems to be a problem at many levels in regards to the aftermath of the whole chain of events.
When does deliberation become procrastination?
Who has a school district police chief?
Such a small place
Odd is this common
I am still left SMDH that there were almost 300 cops on scene, yet no one went after the guy. And some actively prevented others from doing so.
It is quite common for school systems to have their own police force, at least here in GA. Whether that is a good idea is another question. In some cases it seems that it has led to a system that covers up criminal acts done on school property.
Yes, I figured we might have to wait till the year 2525.
Hahaha...so courageous, stand down the hall while kids from the classroom call 911 saying people are shot but still alive and need help.
Good riddance. Perhaps he can work alongside disgraced fmr Broward Cty Sheriff Scotty Israel staring at traffic monitors.
That criminal should go to prison and so should many other criminal, negligent cops.
Where are all the back the blue useful idiots? You all went real quiet.
That’s from his lawyer’s 4,000 to 4,500 word, 17 page letter in his defense. The defense he never bothered to give for himself until he was on his way out.
He is a Democrat.
“Uvalde school board fires police Chief Pete Arredondo after mass shooting”
What am I missing? How does the SCHOOL board fire a POLICE Chief?
“I’m surprised he hasn’t eaten his six.”
Or at least gone into self-imposed Witness Protection — new name, new location, maybe some plastic surgery. His life is over in Uvalde, I’m thinking.
School districts in Texas have their own police departments with fully commissioned LEO’s. Another jobs program for political strap-hangers.
It isn't just CNN.
Hopefully, the citizens will carry out your excellent idea. Following orders sh!t does not work nor should it.
Here is an explanation which may help.
There are many police to whom the job is just a paycheck, and a way to advance in the bureaucracy. The idea they will ever have to risk their life is seen as a near-impossibility.
When nasty situations happen, they find reason to be elsewhere, or late.
"in a radio dead-spot", "Had to stop and make sure I had all the required gear", "Vehicle problems".
Some times these types get into leadership as a way to avoid dangerous situations.
When they get into a situation calling for decisive action, they are mentally unprepared. They freeze. They do nothing. It worked for them before.
In leadership, this is especially dangerous, because they can prevent others from acting.
“School districts in Texas have their own police departments with fully commissioned LEO’s. Another jobs program for political strap-hangers.”
When I read your comment I thought “That’s ridiculous, it must be a joke”, so I checked. It’s true.
Anyone got a link to that letter? There does not seem to be one in the posted article.
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