Former Uvalde school officials charged in school shooting

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A Uvalde County grand jury has indicted former school district police chief Pete Arredondo and another former district officer on child endangerment charges, the first criminal charges brought against law enforcement for the botched response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Arredondo and Adrian Gonzales are charged with abandoning or endangering a child, the newspaper reported.

The charges come more than two years after the May 24, 2022, shooting in which a lone gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers.

Uvalde County Prosecutor Christina Mitchell convened a grand jury in January to investigate law enforcement's delayed response and to determine whether to bring criminal charges against any of the nearly 400 officers federal, state, and local officials involved in the response. Law enforcement waited 77 minutes to confront the shooter, who was ultimately shot and killed by Border Patrol agents.

The botched response by law enforcement was widely criticized, including in a report from the U.S. Department of Justice. That report found leadership failures, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland noted that lives could have been saved if law enforcement had acted sooner.

In the months following the shooting, a dozen officers were fired, suspended or retired. Arredondo was fired about three months after the shooting. He was listed as responsible for the incident in the school district's shooting response plan.

The newspaper reported that Mitchell informed two victims' families of the indictment.

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