He was the Uvalde School District Police Chief, in charge of operations when a gunman killed 19 children and two female teachers on May 24. Pete Arredondo was suspended from duty on Wednesday, June 22, District Superintendent Hal Harrel announced. “From the beginning of this horrific event, I have maintained that the District will wait until the investigation is complete before making personnel decisions”Superintendent Hal Harrell said in a statement.. “Due to the remaining lack of clarity and the unknown timing on when I will receive the results of the investigation, I have made the decision to place Chief (Pete) Arredondo on administrative leave, effective as of today”.
It must be said that since the tragedy, the police and the families of the victims have wondered about the intervention of the police. The day before, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Steven McCraw, had in particular castigated the fact that Pete Arredondo had decided to “Put the life of the agents before that of the children”. And the manager adds: “We know one thing: there is compelling evidence that law enforcement’s response to the attack on Robb Elementary School was an absolute failure and goes against everything we have learned at over the past two decades since the Columbine massacre” in a high school in 1999, he said.
