Uvalde school board decides against disciplinary action for police chief whose orders delayed a tactical response to shooting
- The Uvalde School Board decided not to pursue disciplinary action against Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
- On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 21 people in an elementary school in Texas.
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Board declined to take disciplinary action against District Police Chief Pete Arredondo during a meeting on Friday, Axios reported.
Arredondo has been under fire since the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary, during which an 18-year-old gunman left 19 children and two adults dead.
The gunman had barricaded himself inside a classroom with children while Arredondo and 19 other officers spent over an hour waiting in a hallway outside.
Officials later told reporters that Arredondo was the one who decided officers should not confront the gunman because he believed the gunman was barricaded alone.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also accused Arredondo of not cooperating with an investigation into the incident.
Parents who waited outside during the gunfire reportedly tried to enter the school and save their children were handcuffed by police.
One parent managed to grab her two kids during the shooting. She later told CBS News that she was handcuffed and threatened by police for talking to the media about her experience with officers while trying to escape arrest and save her kids.
During the district board meeting, officials announced that students and staff will not return to the Robb Elementary campus, which is set to permanently close.
The school, Axios reported, will be moved to a new address, while the existing building would be turned into "something other than a school site," Superintendent Hal Harrell said.