“After much consideration, I regret to inform those who voted for me that I have decided to step down as a City Council member for District 3,” Arredondo said, according to the Leader-News. “The mayor, city council and city staff must continue to move forward without distraction. I feel this is the best decision for Uvalde.”
Uvalde city officials were not informed of Arredondo’s decision until early Saturday afternoon, and CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment.
Arredondo, chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department since March 2020, was identified by state authorities as the on-scene commander during the mass shooting in which a gunman walked into neighboring classrooms on May 24 and killed 19 children and two teachers.
Several law enforcement officers arrived at the school within minutes, but allowed the shooter to remain in the classrooms for 77 minutes before they finally entered and killed him, according to a timeline from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which is leading an investigation into the incident. The long delay went against widespread protocol for active shooter situations, which requires police to immediately stop the threat, and came even as the children inside repeatedly called 911 and begged for help. In a hearing before the Texas Senate last week, DPS Director Col. Stephen McCraw called the police response a “gross failure” and placed the sole blame on Arredondo. Arredondo, who has been in law enforcement for nearly 30 years, has not spoken substantially publicly about the decision that day, but told the Texas Tribune in an interview that he did not consider himself the commander on the ground.
However, at least one of the responding officers expressed the belief that Arredondo was leading the law enforcement response at the school, telling others that “the chief is in charge,” according to the DPS timeline.
Arredondo also told the Texas Tribune that he did not instruct staff to refrain from disrupting classrooms.
Following the release of the DPS timeline and additional details about the law enforcement response, Uvalde CISD Superintendent Hal Harrell placed Arredondo on leave from his position as school police chief on June 22.
Arredondo was elected to the Uvalde City Council on May 7 and was sworn in a week after the shooting on May 24, CNN previously reported.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
Add Comment