(Washington) The former police chief of the Uvalde school district in Texas, in the southern United States, has been charged with child endangerment more than two years after the shooting at a school in the city, several American media reported Thursday.
In May 2022, a man armed with an assault rifle stormed an elementary school in Uvalde, killing 19 children aged 9 to 10, and two teachers aged 44 and 48.
In the aftermath, the delay in police intervention to stop the massacre provoked anger and incomprehension, with the 19 officers on site awaiting the assault by a specialist unit.
Pete Arredondo, 52, has been charged with child abandonment and endangerment, several US media outlets reported, citing judicial sources.
Along with Mr. Arredondo, former school police officer Adrian Gonzales was also named in the indictment, CNN reported.
A prison official declined to comment to AFP and the prison did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In January 2024, the US Department of Justice acknowledged a “cascade of failures” in the response of law enforcement in this shooting.
In the wake of the Uvalde massacre and other mass shootings that shocked the country, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that would impose new gun control restrictions, the most significant in nearly 30 years but far short of what President Joe Biden wanted.
In May, the families of the children killed and injured in the shootings reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde.