The district's board of trustees said Wednesday that it voted to dismiss Chief Pete Arredondo, who has faced criticism since the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
UVALDE, Texas — The Uvalde school district's embattled police chief was fired on Wednesday following allegations that he made several critical mistakes during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
Arredondo, who has been on leave from the district since June 22, has faced blistering criticism since the May 24 massacre, most notably for not ordering officers to immediately breach the classroom where an 18-year-old gunman carried out the attack. Col. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has said Arredondo was in charge of the law enforcement response to the attack.
As the board convened into a closed session, some in the auditorium yelled"Coward!" and"What about our children?" Heavily armed law enforcement personnel arrived at the school within minutes of the attack, but police did not breach the classroom and confront the gunman for more than an hour. Only one other police official at the scene, Uvalde police Lt. Mariano Pargas, is known to have been placed on leave since the shooting. Pargas was the city's acting police chief during the massacre.
School officials say a virtual academy will be offered for students. The district has not said how many students will attend virtually, but a new state law passed last year in Texas following the pandemic limits the number of eligible students receiving remote instruction to"10% of all enrolled students within a given school system."
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