Former Uvalde school police chief indicted for delayed response to shooting

The Uvalde, Texas, schools police chief failed to identify an active shooting, failed to follow his training and made critical decisions that slowed law enforcement's response to stop a killer who “hunted” his victims and ultimately killed 21 people at Robb Elementary School, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.

Pete Arredondo was arrested and briefly incarcerated before being released Thursday evening on 10 felony counts in state prison for abandoning or endangering a child in the May 24, 2022, attack that killed 19 children and two teachers in one of the worst school shootings in history. The History of the United States.

Former school principal Adrian Gonzales was also indicted on several similar charges, the Uvalde Leader-News and the San Antonio Express-News reported. The Uvalde newspaper reported that prosecutor Christina Mitchell confirmed the indictment.

Arredondo, who was the on-scene commander during the attack, and Gonzales are the first officers to face criminal charges.

The indictment against Arredondo, who was the commander on scene during the shooting, accuses the chief of delaying the police response despite hearing gunshots and notification of the presence of injured children in classrooms and the death of a teacher. Arredondo called in a SWAT team, ordered the first officers to evacuate the building instead of confronting the shooter and attempted to negotiate with the 18-year-old gunman, according to the indictment.

More than 370 federal, state and local officers converged on the scene, but they waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the shooter, even as the gunman could be heard firing an AR-15-style rifle. Terrified students inside the classroom called 911 as their anxious parents pleaded with officers — some of whom could hear gunshots as they stood in a hallway — to come inside. A tactical team of officers eventually entered the classroom and killed the shooter.

The indictment accuses Arredondo of failing to protect survivors of the attack, including Khloie Torres, who called 911 and asked for help, telling a dispatcher, “Please hurry up. There are a lot of dead bodies. Some of my teachers are still alive but they were shot.”

Criminal charges in state prisons carry up to two years in prison if convicted.

Scathing state and federal investigative reports into the police response have previously listed “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership and technology issues that day.

Arredondo lost his job three months after the shooting. Several officers involved were eventually fired, and separate investigations by the Justice Department and state lawmakers have criticized law enforcement for botching its response to the massacre.

Related article: