https://sputnikglobe.com/20220826/after-months-of-waiting-the-uvalde-school-police-chief-has-been-fired-1100008904.html
After Months of Waiting, The Uvalde School Police Chief Has Been Fired
After Months of Waiting, The Uvalde School Police Chief Has Been Fired
Sputnik International
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, armed with an AR15 rifle and murdered 19 children and two teachers. It was the... 26.08.2022, Sputnik International
2022-08-26T03:25+0000
2022-08-26T03:25+0000
2022-08-26T03:25+0000
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Three months after the tragic Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, TX, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, school district police chief Pete Arredondo was fired on Wednesday.The decision comes after months of demands by the family members of the victims who say that Arredondo put the safety of police officers over the concern for the children’s lives. It took one hour and 14 minutes for police to confront the shooter. The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steve McCraw, called the response an “abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre.”Arredondo did not attend the school board meeting that was called on Wednesday to discuss his employment status. He released a statement through his lawyer, George Hyde, who said that he had been facing death threats and did not think the meeting was safe.Hyde further claimed that the families of the victims were seeking “more retribution by identifying a new target to focus their grief on” because the gunman was no longer around after being killed by police.Hyde also contends that Arredondo, as a public employee, is entitled to an opportunity to clear his name under the Constitution’s equal protection clause.Arredondo has been placed on administrative leave since June. He also resigned from the Uvalde City Council on July 2, after repeated demands from Uvalde residents, a position he was elected to weeks before the shooting.The incident report by the Texas House committee stated that Arredondo should have been the incident commander according to the school district’s active shooter protocols, but Arredondo told the Texas Tribune, in one of his few public remarks since the shooting, that he did not consider himself the officer in charge. He also claimed that the officers never “hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk,” but surveillance footage revealed that the officers waited in the hallway for over an hour while requesting backup, shields, and the SWAT team, all while children locked in the classroom with the shooter desperately called 911, pleading for help.Arredondo also claimed that the police officers had to wait for breaching equipment because the classroom door had been locked by the shooter, but later investigations proved that the door could not have been locked from the inside and the police officers could have breached the room at any time.Officials, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have faced criticism for how the narrative and timeline of the shooting put out by officials has changed multiple times. Abbott initially praised the response of law enforcement to the shooting, but later recanted, claiming that he had been “misled.”In addition to Arredondo, parents of the victims have been calling for the firing of the school’s superintendent and for the school’s trustees to step down.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20220720/uvalde-superintendent-recommends-school-police-chief-be-fired-1097631300.html
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uvalde, texas, us, mass shooting, texas governor greg abbott
After Months of Waiting, The Uvalde School Police Chief Has Been Fired
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, armed with an AR15 rifle and murdered 19 children and two teachers. It was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.
Three months after the tragic Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, TX, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, school district police chief Pete Arredondo
was fired on Wednesday.
The decision comes after months of demands by the family members of the victims who say that Arredondo put the safety of police officers over the concern for the children’s lives. It took one hour and 14 minutes for police to confront the shooter. The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Col. Steve McCraw, called the response an “abject failure and antithetical to everything we’ve learned over the last two decades since the Columbine massacre.”
Arredondo did not attend the school board meeting that was called on Wednesday to discuss his employment status. He released a statement through his lawyer, George Hyde, who said that he had been facing death threats and did not think the meeting was safe.
26 August 2022, 00:21 GMT
Hyde further claimed that the families of the victims were seeking “more retribution by identifying a new target to focus their grief on” because the gunman was no longer around after being killed by police.
“Retribution will not bring anyone back,” Hyde stated. “It is a hollow reward, and it will only spread more hurt and pain in an unjust and biased manner.”
Hyde also contends that Arredondo, as a public employee, is entitled to an opportunity to clear his name under the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
Arredondo has been placed on administrative leave since June. He also resigned from the Uvalde City Council on July 2, after repeated demands from Uvalde residents, a position he was elected to weeks before the shooting.
The incident report by the Texas House committee stated that Arredondo should have been the incident commander according to the school district’s active shooter protocols, but Arredondo
told the Texas Tribune, in one of his few public remarks since the shooting, that he did not consider himself the officer in charge. He also claimed that the officers never “hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk,” but surveillance footage revealed that the officers waited in the hallway for over an hour while requesting backup, shields, and the SWAT team, all while children locked in the classroom with the shooter desperately called 911, pleading for help.
Arredondo also claimed that the police officers had to wait for breaching equipment because the classroom door had been locked by the shooter, but later investigations proved that the door could not have been locked from the inside and the police officers could have breached the room at any time.
Officials, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, have faced criticism for how the narrative and timeline of the shooting put out by officials has changed multiple times. Abbott initially praised the response of law enforcement to the shooting, but later recanted, claiming that he had been “misled.”
In addition to Arredondo, parents of the victims have been calling for the firing of the school’s superintendent and for the school’s trustees to step down.
