In article <XnsACBCC0D09D4AEgda@95.216.243.224>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:

For weeks, the heartbroken families of children massacred in an
Uvalde, Texas, elementary school have been calling for
accountability over the delayed police action in tackling the
gunman.

On Tuesday, the top Texas official in charge of the
investigation described the response as an �abject failure.�

At the center of the furor has been the school district�s police
chief Pedro �Pete� Arredondo. On Wednesday, nearly a month after
the horrific shooting, he was placed on leave.

�From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the
district would wait until the investigation was complete before
making personnel decisions,� Uvalde Consolidated Independent
School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said in a statement.

�Today, I am still without details of the investigations being
conducted by various agencies. Because of the lack of clarity
that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the
results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place
Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective on this date,�
he said.

Arredondo and responding law enforcement agencies have faced
fierce criticism over the length of time officers were stationed
in a hallway outside adjoining classrooms 111 and 112 at Robb
Elementary, where an 18-year-old gunman and the victims were
located.

The gunman fired at responding officers in the first minutes of
the shooting, two of whom received grazing wounds, according to
an updated timeline from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Yet more than 70 minutes would elapse before the gunman was shot
and killed by authorities who stormed the room.

Earlier this month, Arredondo told The Texas Tribune he didn�t
consider himself the incident commander and did not instruct
officers to refrain from breaching the scene.

Berlinda Irene Arreola, the grandmother of shooting victim
Amerie Jo Garza, spoke at a tense city council meeting Tuesday
where Arredondo was not present. The school police chief was
elected to the council earlier this year and has stayed out of
the public eye since the shooting.

�He failed us,� Arreola said of Arredondo to councilmembers. �Do
not make the same mistake he made and fail us too. Go forward
and make it right � please, please, we�re begging, get this man
out of our lives.�

The council later unanimously voted to deny Arredondo a leave of
absence from future council meetings, and the decision was met
with applause from residents in attendance. According to the
city�s charter, Arredondo could be removed from office if he
fails to attend three consecutive city council meetings
unexcused.

Arreola spoke with CNN Wednesday about the pain of losing 10-
year-old Amerie as well as the subsequent fallout, with
preliminary details from investigations indicating that more
could have been done sooner.

�It�s getting harder and harder every day as far as missing her,
the hurt that we feel. But also with the anger that�s unfolding
before our eyes,� Arreola told CNN�s Brianna Keilar.

�We have to speak for all these children, all these families. We
have to make things right, we need to get down to the bottom of
everything that has happened and find out the truth.�

Amerie�s stepfather, Angel Garza, was a medical first responder
to the scene of the shooting and told CNN Wednesday he did not
understand how police failed to act when they were located
outside the classroom, so close to the victims.

�I just don�t get how you can hear these kids crying and asking
for help, but you�re scared to enter because your commander
doesn�t want you to go in,� he said.

Parents, including himself, �were right outside� the school. �I
was trying to get in, I was put into handcuffs,� he said,
distraught that police he entrusted �didn�t save my daughter or
any of the other kids.�

Arredondo testified to a Texas House committee behind closed
doors on Tuesday regarding the day of the shooting and did not
comment publicly. CNN has reached out to Arredondo�s attorney
for comment.

Lieutenant Mike Hernandez is assuming the duties of the UCISD
Chief of Police during Arredondo�s leave, according to the
school district.

Uvalde mayor calls out DPS director
While Arredondo has received the lion�s share of public
criticism for how police handled the crisis, the mayor of Uvalde
was quick to point out Tuesday that he believes other law
enforcement agencies also need to be held accountable and
provide updates to city officials.

In pointed remarks at the city council meeting, Mayor Don
McLaughlin accused DPS director Col. Steven McCraw of shirking
his department�s responsibility and noted that officers from at
least eight law enforcement agencies were inside Robb Elementary
during the shooting.

�Col. McCraw has continued to � whether you want to call it �
lie, leak, mislead or misstate information in order to distance
his own troopers and Rangers from the response. Every briefing
he leaves out the number of his own officers and Rangers that
were on-scene that day,� McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin also decried leaks from unnamed sources he said were
intended to shift blame over police response away from certain
agencies and more toward local law enforcement.

�Col. McCraw has an agenda and it is not to present a full
report on what happened and give factual answers on what
happened to this community,� the mayor said, adding he was meant
to receive a daily briefing from authorities since the day after
the shooting but none has been provided.

McCraw on Tuesday at a Texas Senate hearing accused Arredondo of
ordering police to wait for unnecessary equipment and keys to a
door that may not have been locked as suspected.

CNN has reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety for
comment.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/us/uvalde-texas-elementary-school-
shooting-thursday/index.html