Fired Uvalde police chief says he's been targeted by victims' grieving families because there's no one left to blame

• The Uvalde school district police chief said he's been targeted in an "unjust and biased manner."
• Pete Arredondo was fired by the school district board for his handling of May's mass shooting.

Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who was fired for his handling of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting, said he's been targeted by the grieving families of victims because they're looking for someone to blame now that the shooter is dead.

The Uvalde school district board unanimously voted on Wednesday to fire Arredondo over his response to the incident, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed on May 24.

Arredondo had faced a slew of calls for his removal after multiple reports accused him of making serious blunders in a widely-criticized law enforcement response.

In a 17-page statement to the media following the firing, Arredondo's attorney George Hyde asked that his client's employment be reinstated with back pay and benefits and called for a pending complaint against him be closed.

The statement said Arredondo had been condemned for a situation that should only be blamed on the deceased shooter, who was fatally shot by law enforcement officers at the scene.

"The grieving process takes time, and with time, we all hope to find understanding," the statement said. "Those fighting with anger lash out, trying to find a means to move on, and with anger, comes the blame game."

It added that the shooter was the "one person who could have saved everyone if he could have changed his mind and his plan to hurt the innocent and seek death from a Police Officer's bullet."

The statement also said that, because the shooter was dead, "those grieving do not have a target to direct their anger toward."

"So naturally, those affected lash out and seek more retribution by identifying a new target to focus their grief on, with the belief that it will help them stop hurting," Hyde wrote.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," the statement added, stating that "retribution" against Arredondo would "only spread more hurt and pain in an unjust and biased manner."

It also asked those who lost family members and friends in the shooting to reflect on whether their actions would help them in their grief.

Hyde also wrote that Arredondo's response during the incident had been based on the information and equipment available to him at the time and that he had acted "to the best of his capabilities."

The statement said that both Arredondo and Hyde would not be present at the chief's termination hearing, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday evening — about 30 minutes after the statement was released.

Hyde cited death threats against Arredondo and said the school district has not told them of any safety measures that would be in place at the hearing. Arredondo had wanted to be armed at the hearing if he was to attend, Hyde wrote.

"Chief Arredondo does not believe the planned district meeting is safe and is certainly not going to appear without exercising his state rights to be armed," he wrote. "Unless the School District discloses in writing its safety protocol to ensure Chief Arredondo's life and the lives of those in attendance, including both the Board, its Superintendent, and the media."