Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo has been placed on leave from the school district's police force

• Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo has been placed on leave from the school district's police force.
• The move was made in response to the lack of answers for the chaotic police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting.

Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday following mounting backlash over the police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting, the school district announced.

The move comes after the embattled police chief, who also served on the city council, was denied a leave of absence from the panel in a unanimous decision on Tuesday that was met with cheers from community members.

Hal Harrell, the superintendent of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, announced that Arredondo would also be placed on administrative leave effective Wednesday.

"From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions," Harrell said in a statement. "Today, I am still without details of the investigations being conducted by various agencies."

He added: "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."

The superintendent said Lieutenant Mike Hernandez would be appointed as the interim UCISD Chief of Police as the district continues "to seek qualified candidates to join our police department as we prepare for the new school year."

Law enforcement officials have been under intense scrutiny over their response to the tragic May 24 shooting that left 19 children and two staff members dead.

Parents of children who attended Robb Elementary School called for Arredondo's firing at a school board meeting on Monday.

"I find it shameful that we had almost 100 officers on the scene, and I had to leave work and save my own," one mother, Angeli Gomez, said during an open forum at the Monday board meeting. "If nothing is done by this council to ensure the safety of our children, perhaps it is time for individuals who are willing to risk their lives for our children to fill your seats."