(Washington) The police chief of the Uvalde school district, strongly criticized for his slowness in dealing with the gunman who caused the deaths of 19 children and two teachers in May in this Texas city, was fired on Wednesday, according to the American media.
Posted yesterday at 10:49 p.m.
The school district board in Uvalde, near the border with Mexico, voted according to the Texas Grandstand unanimously in favor of his ousting on Wednesday, three months to the day after one of the worst school shooting massacres in the United States.
Pete Arredondo, then in charge of operations, is accused of having delayed in involving the police, who took more than an hour to intervene against the 18-year-old shooter, who was finally shot.
Mr. Arredondo had for his part decided not to be present at this “illegal and unconstitutional public lynching”, according to the words of his lawyers in a document published a few hours before Wednesday’s meeting.
He asked the district council for a full return to his duties as well as the closure of the “unfounded” procedure against him.
Pete Arredondo had been suspended by the district superintendent on June 22.
Nearly 400 officers from various departments intervened in Robb Elementary School on May 24, but between the arrival of the first police officers and the death of the killer, 73 minutes elapsed, an “unacceptable” delay according to a commission of Texas parliamentary inquiry, the conclusions of which were revealed in mid-July.
His report points to a “chaotic” situation, a lack of command and “apathetic” officers, while desperate children trapped in the building called for help from the emergency services.
Pete Arredondo “did not assume his responsibility as commander” and he made errors of analysis because he did not have all the information, according to the commission.
Texas Public Safety Director Steven McCraw called law enforcement’s response “an absolute failure.”
Following the Uvalde massacre, as well as other killings that shocked the country, the US Congress passed legislation in late June establishing new gun restrictions, the largest in nearly 30 years, but well below what President Joe Biden wanted.