- Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo said he never considered himself the incident commander of last month’s school shooting in Texas, which killed 19 children and two teachers, and that he did not order police to hold off on entering the building.
The public has been watching the police response after the gunman entered Robb Elementary School and began shooting on May 24, including Arredondo’s role. He agreed to an interview with the Texas Tribune, which was published late Thursday.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), as many as 19 officers waited for an hour in a hallway outside classrooms 111 and 112 before a tactical team led by the US Border Patrol was allowed to enter.
‘I didn’t issue any orders,’ Arredondo told the Texas Tribune. ‘I called for help and requested an extraction tool to open the door,’ he added. According to the Texas Tribune, the doors to the two classrooms were locked.
According to DPS officials, Arredondo chose not to send officers in to neutralise the gunman because he believed the immediate threat to students inside had subsided following an initial flurry of gunfire in the classrooms. more info
According to the Texas Tribune, DPS officials identified Arredondo as the incident commander. According to Arredondo, he assumed that another officer or official had taken command of the larger response and assumed the role of a front-line responder.
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