Uvalde school police chief pictured in orange jumpsuit after being charged in mass shooting that left 21 dead

The former school police chief in Uvalde, Texas, had his mug shot released after being charged with child endangerment for his role in responding to the May 2022 mass shooting.

Pete Arredondo was pictured in his booking photo in an orange jumpsuit, alongside Adrian Gonzales, a former district officer. Police released the booking photos of Arredondo and Gonzales on Friday.

Arredondo was indicted by a Uvalde grand jury, according to the San Antonio Express-News THURSDAY. He faces charges of child abandonment/endangerment, a state crime, alongside Gonzales. It is unclear when the indictment took place.

Arredondo and Gonzales are the first law enforcement officials to be charged in what is widely seen as a failed response to the May 24, 2022, Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 fourth-graders dead and two teachers.

On the day of the shooting, Arredondo, who was chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police force, was considered the commander of the incident. Gonzales was one of the school police officers who responded.

At least two dozen state, local and federal agencies and nearly 400 police officers responded to the call. But law enforcement waited 77 minutes before entering the classroom where the shooter had barricaded himself. All the while, officers stood in the hallway as the massacre unfolded.

After the shooting, Arredondo said he did not know he was responsible for the intervention.

THE Express-News was unable to reach Arredondo for comment, and Gonzales hung up on a reporter.

In January, the Justice Department released a critical incident review of the shooting that found there was a delayed response to confront the attacker. Police doctrine states that officers must act immediately to confront an active shooter.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “Had law enforcement followed generally accepted practices in an active shooter situation and gone after the shooter directly to stop him, lives would have been saved and people would have survived.”

The 18-year-old shooter began going on the rampage at the school around 11:33 a.m. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he entered the school's west building and went to classrooms 111 and 112, which were connected together. He fired more than 100 rounds in two and a half minutes.

The charged officers were among the first to arrive on scene. As officers approached the classrooms, the shooter fired several shots through the door and wall. One of the officers who intervened was hit in the head and arm, another was hit in the ear.

Law enforcement requested backup, bulletproof vests and other protective gear. About 20 minutes into the shooting, Arredondo issued an order not to enter classrooms. Instead, police worked to evacuate the building as they planned to negotiate with the shooter.

According to a city investigation into the shooting, Uvalde police officers had wanted to enter classrooms once they had protective shields, but Arredondo's decision “undoes” that action, said THE Express-News reported.

Although Arredondo was the school's police chief, all other agencies had to defer to him because of his command position in the event of an incident.

Arredondo was eventually removed from his position and the entire school police force was replaced by the district. The victims' families have long campaigned for charges against Arredondo for his actions.