UVALDE, Texas (Nexstar) — Former Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo has been booked and released on 10 counts of child endangerment for his role in the police response to the second-worst school shooting in American history.
It marks the first criminal charges in the highly-scrutinized police response to the May 2022 shooting, in which an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers.
Nearly 376 law enforcement officers responded from a slew of local, state and federal agencies — but it took officers approximately 77 minutes to breach the classroom and take down the gunman. The gunman was ultimately shot and killed by Border Patrol officers.
Arredondo turned himself in to the Uvalde County Jail at 4:55 p.m. on Thursday and was released on a $10,000 surety bond at 6:24 p.m., according to county authorities.
First reported by the San Antonio Express-News, a Uvalde County grand jury indicted Arredondo along with another former police officer with UCISD, Adrian Gonzales. Both face felony charges of abandoning or endangering a child, according to the newspaper. Nexstar has not confirmed Gonzales’ charges.
In January, Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee convened a grand jury to investigate why it took law enforcement more than an hour to respond to the active shooter, and whether subsequent criminal charges could be filed.
The highly scruitinized police response prompted a scathing review from the Department of Justice earlier this year, in which the nation’s highest law enforcement agency found there were “cascading failures” in officers’ response to the massacre.
Initially after the massacre, a special Texas House investigative committee also reviewed the shooting, the school’s safety and security protocols and police response. The three-member panel concluded there were “multiple systemic failures,” ranging from a culture of noncompliance in regards to school security, as well as warning signs online from the shooter.
Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, was vice-chair of the committee. In a statement to Nexstar, Moody said “accountability is important.”
“I think anyone who read our report on the shooting knows that I believe Arredondo failed the families of Uvalde,” he said. “But those same families are always my number one priority, so I hope the way this is handled provides them with justice and closure, not prolonged suffering.”
Other responding officers who faced disciplinary action
Arredondo was the first law enforcement official to be fired over the “chaotic and uncoordinated” police response that day. Through his attorney, Arredondo has said he did not know he was the designated incident commander for the response, despite the UCISD active shooter policy “directing its police chief to assume command.”
Uvalde Police Department acting chief of police Lt. Mariano Pargas resigned from his position in November, days before the city was set to take a vote on his employment.
Of the 91 Texas Department of Public Safety officers who responded to Robb Elementary on May 24, seven were put under investigation for their response to the shooting. Actions were taken against two officers, Ranger Ryan Kindell and Sgt. Juan Maldonado. Maldonado was terminated.
‘I was never given a specific role’: Former DPS Sgt. Juan Maldonado recounts Uvalde massacre
A third DPS employee, Trooper Crimson Elizondo, retired and then went to work as a police officer with Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. Elizondo was fired from the district in October, after media reports revealed her new employment with UCISD, despite the fact that she had been under investigation by DPS for her response to the shooting.
After terminating Elizondo, UCISD suspended its entire police department and placed two top officials, Lt. Miguel Hernandez and Student Services Director Ken Mueller, on administrative leave. Mueller has since retired.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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