Uvalde Police chief indicted on child endangerment charges over the response to the massacre

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/uvalde-school-police-chief-indicted-over-mass-shooting-that-left-19-children-and-two-teachers-dead/ar-BB1p1yNd?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=61fd6b97a9774b36a99a77181e16775c&ei=11


The former school police chief of Uvalde, Texas has been indicted on child endangerment charges over his role in responding to the mass shooting in May 2022.

Pete Arredondo was indicted by a Uvalde grand jury, according to the San Antonio Express-Newon Thursday. Arredondo is facing charges of abandoning/endangering a child, a state felony, alongside Adrian Gonzales, a former officer. It’s not clear when the indictment took place.

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

On the day of the shooting, Arredondo, who served as chief of of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s police force, was considered to be the incident commander. Gonzales was one of the responding officers on the school police force.

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

Following the shooting, Arredondo said that he didn’t know that he was in charge of the response.

The Express-News was not able to reach Arredondo for comment and Gonzales hung up on a reporter.

In January, the Department of Justice released a critical incident review of the shooting that found that there was a delayed response in confronting the assailant. Police doctrine states that officers should immediately act to confront an active shooter.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “Had law enforcement followed generally accepted practices in an active-shooter situation and gone right after the shooter to stop him, lives would have been saved, and people would have survived.”

The 18-year-old shooter started his rampage at the school around 11.33am. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle, he walked into the school’s west building and went to classrooms 111 and 112, which were interconnected. He fired more than 100 rounds in two and a half minutes.

The indicted officials were some of the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene. As officers went to approach the classrooms, the shooter fired several shots through the door and wall. One of the responding officers was shot in the head and arm, another was hit in the ear.

Law enforcement called for backup, bullet0proof vests and other protective equipment. About 20 minutes after the shooting began, Arredondo made the call not to enter the classrooms. Instead, police worked to clear the building as they planned to negotiate with the shooter.

According to an investigation into the shooting conducted by the city, Uvalde police officers had wanted to enter the classrooms once they had protective shields but Arredondo’s decision “overrode” that action, the Express-News reported.

Even though Arredondo served as the school police chief, all of the other agencies had to defer to his orders due to his incident command position.

Arredondo was eventually fired from his post and the entire school police force was replaced by the district. Families of the victims have long campaigned for charges to be brought against Arredondo for his actions.

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.
 
UPDATE:

More fallout - https://cnycentral.com/news/nation-world/uvalde-police-officer-placed-on-leave-over-missing-robb-elementary-bodycam-video-retires-local-news-near-me-massacre-san-antonio-gun-violence#

Uvalde officer retires days after being placed on administrative leave

UVALDE, Texas (WOAI) — Sgt. Donald Page, who was one of the first on the scene for the Robb Elementary School massacre in 2022, has retired from the Uvalde Police Department effective Sept. 13.

This came two days after the department placed Page on paid administrative leave after they investigated [highlight=yellow]missing body camera footage from the day of the shooting.[/highlight]

He was an 18-year veteran of the Uvalde Police Department.

After the City of Uvalde released thousands of files and documents [highlight=yellow]as part of a lawsuit, an employee discovered that not all of the body camera footage from the Robb Elementary shooting had been handed over.[/highlight]

Chief Homer Delgado launched a full-scale audit of the Uvalde Police servers to see if anything else had been overlooked.

The audit turned up "several additional videos." It is unclear as to whether it was the officer's own bodycam footage, or whether or not he was actually responsible for the footage not being released.

Uvalde Police informed District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee handed over the new footage on Aug. 13. It’s now up to Busbee to decide if this footage is needed for further investigation.

“As a result of UPD’s internal investigation, Sergeant Donald Page was placed on paid leave. Sergeant Page subsequently retired from UPD, effective September 13th," said the City of Uvalde in a statement. "In the meantime, we are focused on ensuring compliance with the new court order.”

Page started with the Uvalde Police Department in 2006. He served with the Kinney County Sheriff's Office before that.
 
The incompetence of the Principal and staff has been forgotten. There were articles about the school getting a grant to upgrade security but it seemed like wasted money. Part of the police wait was for master keys which the Principal was supposed to have but couldn't find... She should have been permanently fired and possible charged as an incompetent accessory.

A door was propped open with a rock regularly, the teacher that closed the door never checked that it locked. Wasted money on the grant for security.
 
Forgot to add this.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/uvalde-texas-elementary-school-principal-suspended-two-months-mass-shooting
 
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