Uvalde school board fires police Chief Pete Arredondo
UVALDE — The Uvalde school district's embattled police chief was fired 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.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District's board of trustees said it voted unanimously to dismiss police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Arredondo is the first officer dismissed over the hesitant and fumbling law enforcement response to one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. Only one other officer — Uvalde Police Department Lt. Mariano Pargas, who was the city's acting police chief on the day of the massacre — is known to have been placed on leave for their actions during the shooting.
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.