Uwalde, Texas – New questions are emerging about Uwalde police chief Peter Aredondo a week after a gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers at Rob Elementary School.
In a statement to CBS News on Tuesday, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said: “The Uwalde and Uwalde Police Department [school district] Police are cooperating with investigators. The chief of Uwalde [school district] Police provided an initial interview, but did not respond to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers, which was conducted two days ago. ”
However, in a statement to CNN on Wednesday, Aredondo said he was “in contact with the DPS every day.”
Aredondo was the one who ordered the officers to stay outside the classroom where the shooter was hiding during the siege.
The question is why Aredondo was able to make that decision and why he chose what he did, CBS Dallas reports.
US customs and border agents eventually stormed the classroom and shot the suspects more than an hour after the shooter entered the building.
Uwalde’s school district police chief Pete Aredondo, who was identified by officers last week as the commander of the incident during the mass shooting at Rob Elementary School, was sworn in as a member of the city council on Tuesday, the mayor said. CBS 11 news
DPS Texas Director Stephen McCrow said that while law enforcement waited to break into the classroom, the children asked 911 operators on the phone to send police.
Aredondo was elected to Uwalde City Council on May 7th and was sworn in on Tuesday. “Out of respect for the families who buried their children today and who plan to bury their children in the next few days, no ceremony was held,” Uwalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a statement.
Following reports that Aredondo would not be sworn in, McLaughlin said in a statement Monday that “there is nothing in the City Charter, Electoral Code or Texas Constitution that prohibits him from taking the oath. As far as we know, we are currently unaware of Mr Aredondo’s investigation. “
It was unclear whether the law allowed Aredondo to hold both positions and whether he would.
Uwalde, meanwhile, began burying his dead.
The first two children who lost their lives were laid to rest on Tuesday. Amery Joe Garza and Maite Rodriguez, both 10, were fourth-graders.
The funeral of one of the two teachers killed in the attack will take place on Wednesday. Irma Garcia will be buried with her husband Joe, who died of a heart attack two days after the shooting. Family members say he succumbed to a broken heart.
The funeral of 10-year-old Jose Flores will also take place on Wednesday.
School shooting in Uwald, Texas
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