A New York Times report noted this Friday that the police chief of the Uvalde School District, Texas, questioned about his response to the fatal shooting where they died 18 children and two teachers, did not have a police radio during the incident.
Pete Arredondo, head of the Police Department of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, would have had problems order a quick response to the shooting due to the lack of police radio, the report said.
Given this, the report indicated that Arredondo used a cell phone to call a police landline, and that was when he reported the active shooter situation to them.
Inside Robb Elementary School, Arredondo was on the scene convinced that the threat to the children ended, and he believed the gunman had gone from active shooter to barricaded subject, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said. However, the 18-year-old adolescent identified as Salvador Ramos started shooting.
“(Arredondo) was convinced at that time that there were no more threats to the children,” McCraw said during a press conference, Fox News reported.
“The commander on scene considered him an entrenched individual and that there was time. That there were no children at risk. Obviously, you know, based on the information that we have, there were children in that classroom that were at risk, and it was, in fact, an active shooter situation and not a barricaded subject,” McCraw added.
Ramos, suspected elementary school shooter, remained inside the building for an hour before he was shot dead by officers.2022
The officers commanded by Arredondo have faced criticism for their actions since the shooting that occurred on 24 in May, receiving an investigation by the Department of Justice, at the request of the mayor of Uvalde, Don McLughlin, according to the spokesman for that federal office, Anthony Coley.
“The objective is to provide an independent account of the actions and responses from law enforcement that day. (Also sought) to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” Coley said.