Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response to Texas capturing to hitch City Council

The police chief who reportedly made the call to not immediately ship officers into Robb Elementary College to confront a gunman was elected to Uvalde's Metropolis Council just three weeks in the past after operating on a platform of communication and outreach to the community. 

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District, stopped at least 19 officers from breaking into the school because the gunman opened fire for at least an hour.

Arredondo believed that the shooter had barricaded himself and that the children weren't under an energetic threat, Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Security, mentioned Friday. 

“From the benefit of hindsight the place I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the fitting determination. It was a wrong decision. Interval. There was no excuse for that,” McCraw said at a information conference. “There were loads of officers to do what needed to be carried out, with one exception, is that the incident commander inside believed he needed more equipment and extra officers to do a tactical breach at that time."

In line with McCraw, Arredondo believed there was no active threat, so as a substitute of sending officers in, he frolicked finding keys that will let him into the college. Throughout this time, nonetheless, the shooter had unencumbered entry to carry out the assault. Nineteen college students and two lecturers have been killed.

Arredondo was not present among regulation enforcement officers standing with McCraw on Friday, and McCraw didn't explicitly title him.

Arredondo did not immediately return a request for comment by NBC Information.

As the group demands solutions and items together a shaky and conflicting timeline of occasions, scrutiny has turned to Arredondo, who was born and raised in Uvalde. 

After working as the police captain at the United Independent School District in Laredo, Texas, about 140 miles south of Uvalde, Arredondo returned to his hometown in April 2020, when he accepted the position of chief of police for the Uvalde college district, in accordance with the Uvalde Chief-News.

The former chief, Leo Flores, resigned after being arrested on charges of unlawfully carrying a gun in a bar and threatening an officer, the newspaper reported. 

Arredondo told the Chief-News that he was desperate to serve the neighborhood, saying he was dedicated to establishing a strong working relationship with the three officers he could be main. 

“We wish to be sure that we can be found wherever we are needed,” Arredondo advised the newspaper.

As Arredondo’s tenure hit two years, his local likability led to a profitable bid for a City Council seat this month. He beat out three different candidates, garnering nearly 70 % of the vote in the Could 7 election, reported the Uvalde Chief-News. 

The chief campaigned, largely door-to-door, on communication and outreach “to these in want,” the newspaper said. 

“I’m very excited, I am able to hit the ground working. I have loads of ideas, and I positively have loads of drive,” Arredondo advised the outlet this month.

Arredondo is scheduled to be sworn onto the council on Tuesday, precisely one week after the Uvalde capturing.

Safia Samee Ali is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in Chicago.