Photo: Uvalde Leader News
Three days after agunman entered Robb Middle Schoolin Uvalde, Texas, and opened fire, killing19 students and two teachers, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety told reporters that the incident commander on the scene made the “wrong decision” to wait before breaching the classroom doors.
Now the Uvalde School District Police Chief has spoken out to defend himself.
Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo toldThe Texas Tribunein a new report that he did not consider himself to be the commanding officer on the scene that day.
In phone interviews and statements provided to theTribunethrough his lawyer, Arredondo said that he never told any officers to stand down from breaching the building and that no one told him about the 911 calls that came in during the 77 minutes before the gunman was shot.
In the interview, published over the weekend, Arredondo commended the officers on the scene.
But one of Arredondo’s subordinate officers disputes Arredondo’s claim that he did not realize that he was in charge.
“We were looking to him for guidance,” says the officer, whospoke to PEOPLE immediately after the incidentand again on Monday. “We wanted him to tell us what to do. He was the chief. He knew the school building better than anyone. So he knew we were all looking to him for decisions. I was literally five feet away from him as we asked what we should do.”
“You have to remember that it was chaos,” the officer continued. “There were so many people there, so I get that it was confusing who was in charge. But for sure, [Arrendondo] was the one who I thought was in charge, and I know I was not the only one.”
In his interview, Arredondo says that they struggled to breach the door where the gunman held the students hostage, and had to wait until he found a master key.
“Each time I tried a key I was just praying,” Arredondo told theTribune.
Seventy-seven minutes passed before officers were able to unlock the door and kill the gunman.
“We waited and waited for that f—ing key,” the officer tells PEOPLE. “It seemed like it took forever.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the police response — and now, the state legislature is opening a second investigation. A bipartisan panel is seeking testimony from law enforcement agencies, as well as physical evidence from the scenes.
The U.S. Department of Justice is also conducting a critical incident review that is not a criminal investigation.
Through his attorney, Arredondo says that he will cooperate with any inquiries into his actions.
The investigation is ongoing.
source: people.com
