The previous Uvalde faculties police chief was indicted over his position in the gradual police response to the 2022 bloodbath at a Texas elementary college that left 19 kids and two lecturers lifeless, the native sheriff stated Thursday.
Pete Arredondo was indicted by a grand jury on 10 counts of felony baby endangerment/abandonment and briefly booked into the county jail earlier than he was launched on bond, Uvalde Sheriff Ruben Nolasco informed The Related Press in a textual content message Thursday evening.
The Uvalde Chief-Information and the San Antonio Categorical-Information reported that former college officer Adrian Gonzales additionally was indicted on a number of comparable costs. The Uvalde Chief-Information reported that District Lawyer Christina Mitchell confirmed the indictment.
Mitchell didn’t return telephone and e-mail messages from The Related Press in search of remark. A number of members of the family of victims of the taking pictures didn’t reply to telephone messages in search of remark.
The indictments make Arredondo, who was the on-site commander through the assault, and Gonzales the primary officers to face prison costs in one of many deadliest college shootings in U.S. historical past. A scathing report by Texas lawmakers that examined the police response described Gonzales as one of many first officers to enter the constructing after the taking pictures started.
The indictments had been saved underneath seal till the boys had been in custody. It was unclear when Arredondo’s indictment could be publicly launched.
Over two years in the past, an 18-year-old gunman opened hearth in a fourth grade classroom, the place he remained for greater than 70 minutes earlier than officers confronted and killed him. In complete, 376 regulation enforcement officers massed at Robb Elementary Faculty on Could 24, 2022, some ready within the hallway exterior the classroom, even because the gunman may very well be heard firing an AR-15-style rifle inside.
“At this time is one other day in an impossibly painful journey,” state Rep. Joe Moody, who helped the state lawmakers investigation, posted on the social platform X. “The harm for them won’t ever subside. At this time, I pray that there’s justice and a few sense of closure for them on this course of fairly than extended struggling.”
The workplace of a former legal professional for Arredondo stated they didn’t know whether or not the previous chief has new illustration. The AP couldn’t instantly discover a telephone quantity to succeed in Gonzales.
Arredondo misplaced his job three months after the taking pictures. A number of officers concerned had been ultimately fired, and separate investigations by the Division of Justice and state lawmakers faulted regulation enforcement with botching their response to the bloodbath.
Whether or not any officers would face prison costs over their actions in Uvalde has been a query hanging over town of 15,000 for the reason that Texas Rangers accomplished their investigation and turned their findings over to prosecutors.
Mitchell’s workplace has additionally come underneath scrutiny. Uvalde metropolis officers filed a lawsuit in 2022 that accused prosecutors of not being clear and withholding information associated to the taking pictures. Media retailers, together with the AP, additionally sued Uvalde officers for withholding information requested underneath public data legal guidelines.
However physique digital camera footage, investigations by journalists and damning authorities studies have laid naked how over the course of over an hour, a mass of officers went out and in of the college with weapons drawn however didn’t go contained in the classroom the place the taking pictures was happening. The tons of of officers on the scene included state police, Uvalde police, college officers and U.S. Border Patrol brokers.
Of their July 2022 report, Texas lawmakers faulted regulation enforcement at each degree with failing “to prioritize saving harmless lives over their very own security.” The Justice Division launched its personal report in January that detailed “cascading failures” by police in ready far too lengthy to confront the gunman, performing with “no urgency” in establishing a command publish and speaking inaccurate data to grieving households.
Uvalde stays divided between residents who say they wish to transfer previous the tragedy and others who nonetheless need solutions and accountability. Throughout the first mayoral race for the reason that taking pictures, locals voted in a person who had served as mayor greater than a decade in the past over a mom who led requires harder gun legal guidelines after her daughter was killed within the assault.
Robb Elementary Faculty is now completely closed. The town broke floor on a brand new college in October 2023.
