Uvalde school shooting: Former police chief charged with ten counts of child endangerment in response to mass shooting | U.S. News

Former student Salvador Ramos killed 19 children — all aged nine to 11 — and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Texas on May 24, 2022. Police officers, including former chief Pedro Arredondo, waited 77 minutes to confront the 18-year-old.

A former police chief has been charged over the response to the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.

The Uvalde County Sheriff's Office said Pedro “Pete” Arredondo was booked and released from jail after a grand jury indicted him Thursday on 10 counts of child endangerment.

He was the chief of the Uvalde Independent Consolidated School District (UCISD) Police Department when a former student carried out a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas.

Salvador Ramos killed 19 children – all aged 9 to 11 – and two teachers on May 24. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

The police force was heavily criticized for their response after it emerged no one attempted to confront the 18-year-old in nearby classrooms 111 and 112 for 77 minutes.

Arredondo was fired three months after shooting in a unanimous vote by the UCISD Board of Trustees.

A Uvalde grand jury also issued an indictment against Adrian Gonzales, another officer, for the police response to the mass shooting.

The sheriff's office could not provide specific details about the charges against him. Uvalde County Prosecutor Christina Mitchell told the Uvalde Leader-News that Gonzales will be booked Friday.

This is the first criminal complaint filed against any of the responding officers, with Arredondo and Gonzalez among the first to arrive at the school.

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A report from the US Department of Justice published last January reveals that agents “Critical failures” in the treatment of Ramos as a “barricaded subject” and leaving 33 students in the classrooms with him.

“The resulting delay provided an opportunity for the active shooter to have additional time to reassess and resume his deadly actions in the classroom,” the report added.

It also read: “More than one survivor remembers hearing someone say 'say help if you need help,' and when a child tried to say 'help' , the subject entered room 112 from room 111 and shot the victim.”

Texas Public Safety Chief Steven McCraw said in 2022 that there were enough armed police to stop the Uvalde shooter three minutes after he entered the school.

He said there was also a delay entering the classroom while officers searched for a key, but the door was unlocked and there was no evidence officers even verified.

In November of the same year, CNN also published reports of a 911 call from Khloie Torres, 10 years oldwho was in the classroom at the time of the shooting.

She said, “Please get help.” I do not want to die. My teacher is dead. Oh my God. » Khloie survived the massacre.

This comes after the The victims' families have filed a complaint against Meta, Activision Blizzard and its parent company Microsoft, as well as weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense for alleged “collusion” in the marketing of weapons to young people.