Texas School Shooting: Police Chief Could Be Fired After Massive Failure During Uvalde Attack
Uvalde School Police Chief Pete Arredondo was placed on administrative leave following his bungled response during the Robb Elementary School shooting. Now, Uvalde's school superintendent has recommended that he be fired.
CNN reported that the Uvalde Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Saturday. Its agenda will be the discussion and possible action regarding the termination of Arredondo. The agenda also stated that it was the superintendent who recommended his termination.
According to a source close to the discussions, the Uvalde Board of Education is expected to terminate the police chief.
Confusion on the True Leadership of the Law Enforcement Response During the Attack
Many have pointed out that as the school district's police chief, he was the one who was supposed to be in charge of the situation. However, there was much confusion over who truly was in command of the response during the mass shooter, Salvador Ramos' attack. This is regarded as one of the reasons for the poor response of law enforcement, which led to the deaths of 19 young children and two teachers.
The Wall Street Journal pointed out that almost 400 officers arrived at the scene to face the lone gunman. However, there was utter chaos in the response, and it was not clear who was in command of the situation. Police Chief Pete Arredondo stated that he was not in command. However, experts pointed out that he should have been the one to lead the response and take command because Robb Elementary was under his jurisdiction.
The response team took 77 minutes to finally breach the classroom and take out Ramos. However, the children and the teachers were already dead by the time they did so.
Arredondo had a plethora of excuses on why it took the officers so long to breach, from the room being locked and the officers waiting for the master key, to the officers not being fully armed. However, video evidence from the attack showed that the officers were indeed fully armed and armored and that the door could not have been locked.
Meeting on Arredondo's Fate Comes After His Resignation From City Council and Surfaced Video
The Uvalde Board of Education had been under intense scrutiny following the attack. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw previously called the response an "abject failure," as the officers placed their lives above the children. He also placed the blame mostly on Arredondo for his lack of leadership at the scene.
With the meeting on whether or not to terminate the beleaguered school police chief, the city council and the city's mayor hope to "move forward without distractions," according to Forbes Magazine.
The meeting also comes two weeks after Arredondo resigned from the City Council following his poor response to the attack. It also comes a week after surveillance footage of how the police responded was leaked by the media. It showed that police waited in the hallway for over an hour while hearing the desperate cries of children as the shooter, Salvador Ramos, opened fire.
Parents also demanded that Arredondo be fired during a recent school board meeting.
Read also: Texas Shooting: Uvalde Police Chief Placed On Leave After Bungled Response To Mass Shooter
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: At school board meeing, parents demand Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo to be fired - KHOU11
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