“Due to the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown moment when I will receive the results of the investigations, I decided to put Chief Aredondo on administrative leave, which takes effect from that date,” Harel wrote in a press release. .
Lieutenant Mike Hernandez is taking over as UCISD police chief, Harel said.
The chief wrote that he intended to wait for the investigation to be completed before making personnel decisions.
“Today I am still without details about the investigations conducted by various agencies,” he wrote.
Aredondo testified behind closed doors in Austin on Tuesday at a Texas House committee, seeking answers to what happened on May 24, when 21 people were shot dead in a primary school, but did not speak publicly about the decision on the day of the shooting.
The announcement from the school district comes a day after Uvaldo’s municipal council, of which Aredondo is a new member, voted to reject his request for leave.
Harel is not the only one who seems frustrated by the lack of information from investigators.
Uwalde Mayor Don McLaughlin on Tuesday blamed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for the lack of transparency and accused its principal, Colonel Stephen McCrow, of deliberately minimizing his agency’s mistakes in the weeks after the Robbery School massacre.
“Colonel McCrow continues to provide, whether you want to call it a lie, a leak, a misrepresentation or a misrepresentation to keep his own soldiers and rangers from answering. At each briefing, he misses the number of his own officers and rangers who were on site that day, “McLaughlin told residents at a city council meeting on Tuesday.
“Colonel McCrow has an agenda and it is not to present a full report on what happened and to give factual answers about what happened to this community,” he added.
In addition, State Senator Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat representing Uwalde County, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against DPS, claiming the agency violated the Texas Public Information Act when his request for information about the shooting was ignored.
“As a result of the senseless tragedy, the people of Uwalde and Texas have demanded answers from their government. To date, they have been met with lies, misstatements and blame, “the lawsuit said.
Criticism and the trial came shortly after McCrow testified before a Texas Senate committee that law enforcement response was an “absolute failure” and violated the generally accepted protocol to stop the shooter as soon as possible.
The MRF director accused Aredondo, whom McCrow and others identified as commander of the scene, of ordering police to wait in a nearby corridor for unnecessary equipment and keys to a door that was not even locked.
“Three minutes after the subject entered the West Building, there were enough armed officers wearing bulletproof vests to isolate, disperse and neutralize the site,” McCrow said. “The only thing stopping the corridor of dedicated officers from entering rooms 111 and 112 was the commander of the scene, who decided to put the lives of the officers before the lives of the children.
Pointing fingers adds to the tragedy, which has become a case of poor police governance and poor communication. It has been nearly a month since an 18-year-old shooter killed 19 children and two teachers at the school. He remained in the classroom from 11:33 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., when police finally broke down the door and killed him, according to a DPS schedule.
However, the authorities have repeatedly changed their report on key facts about what happened in the rooms and what the police did in response during those 77 minutes.
McLaughlin said repeated misrepresentations and the transfer of blame from Texas authorities divided the community and disappointed grieving families.
“The important thing for Uwalde is for these families with broken hearts and this grieving community to receive a full investigation and an accurate report of what happened that day,” he said. “Small quarrels, headlines about click lures and politically motivated scapegoats do not help anyone.
CNN contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety, the district attorney’s office, the chairman of the Texas House Investigative Committee and the FBI’s San Antonio office for further comment.
The case of the US senator challenges the confidentiality of the DPS
In a lawsuit Wednesday, Gutierrez challenged DPS’s decisions to withhold information from the public, including footage from police cameras, 911 audio and ballistic reports.
“DPS has violated Chapter 552 of the Texas government by failing to provide public documents that are believed to be public within a reasonable time,” the lawsuit said.
In a section entitled “Concealment,” the trial noted that the DPS used an exception to the law to keep personal records.
“These government agencies have used the ‘law enforcement exception’ to the Texas Open Records Act to deny access to information that could shed light on the response to the school shooting,” the lawsuit said.
Gutierrez asked the Travis County Court to rule that the DPS immediately provided the documents in his request for archives.
District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busby issued a statement two weeks ago stating that the shooting was being investigated by the FBI and Texas Rangers and that “any release of records of the incident at this time will hamper the aforementioned ongoing investigation and prevent a thorough and full investigation “
However, Kelly Shannon, executive director of the Texas Freedom of Information Foundation, called for transparency in a statement Wednesday.
“It’s important to note that the Texas Public Information Act does not require law enforcement investigators to withhold information from the public about a crime,” Shannon said. “The exception of the law enforcement authorities for exemption is discretionary. In fact, many Texas police and prosecutors routinely release investigative information to the public when they feel the need – whether to help apprehend a wanted suspect, seek more crime advice, or demonstrate a positive police performance. “
The mayor says he is disappointed with the lack of transparency
At the city council meeting, McLaughlin noted that employees from at least eight law enforcement agencies were in the corridor outside the classrooms on the day of the shooting. McLaughlin said he was reluctant to run for office again and was “not hiding anyone”, saying all responsible agencies should be held accountable.
He said that the leak of certain pieces of information in the last few weeks “continues to create chaos in our community and does not allow the whole truth to come to light.”
He was particularly targeting what he said was a false report that local police were not cooperating with investigators, and expressed disappointment that he had been left in the dark.
“I’m just as disappointed – maybe not as disappointed as families who have lost loved ones – but I’m angry that I can’t give you answers or I can’t get answers,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said he should have received a daily briefing from the authorities from the beginning, but one was not provided.
“The gloves are off. As we know, we will share it. We will not hold back any longer,” he said.
McLaughlin has criticized the lack of transparency on the part of investigators before, saying at a city council meeting on June 7: “I don’t blame anyone,” he said. “One day we were told one thing, and the next day the story changed. For a week you were told that a teacher had propped up the door with a stone and at the end of the week this story disappeared. These are the mistakes I am talking about, “he added.
The city council meeting also challenged Aredondo’s absence from the public eye.
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch, Andy Rose, Christina Maxuris, Amanda Musa, Rosalina Neeves, Amy Simonson and Steve Almasi contributed to this report.
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