Survivors and families of those killed in the Texas school massacre demanded the firing of the school police chief who was supposed to be in charge and lead the nearly 400 officers who arrived at the school and took over an hour to kill the gunman.
In a special meeting called by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Monday night, parents called for School Police Chief Pete Arredondo to be fired after a report released by state lawmakers confirmed he was in fact the person in charge of the failed police response the day 19 children and two teachers were slaughtered at Robb Elementary School by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos.
“If he’s not fired by noon tomorrow, then I want your resignation and every single one of you board members because y’all do not give a damn about our children or us,” Brett Cross, the legal guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, said at the meeting, according to KSAT-TV.
The report found the district failed to follow its own written policy during an active shooting.
Uvalde families are demanding the firing of their police chief who was in charge of the nearly 400 officers who took over an hour to kill gunman Salvador Ramos. REUTERS
Michael Brown holds protest signs while the Texas House investigative committee prepared to present its full report on the shootings at Robb Elementary School on July 17, 2022. AP Photo/Eric Gay
Families attend a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. AP“The Uvalde CISD’s written active shooter plan directed its police chief to assume command and control of the response to an active shooter,” said the report. “The chief of police … failed to perform or to transfer to another person the role of incident commander. This was an essential duty he had assigned to himself in the plan mentioned above.”
“The void of leadership could have contributed to the loss of life as injured victims waited over an hour for help, and the attacker continued to sporadically fire his weapon,” the report continued.
At Monday’s meeting, Superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell told community members he can’t fire Arredondo on his own, and needs school board members to sign off. Harrell admitted he had not yet reviewed the damning report released on Sunday.
Surveillance video showed police milling around as the gunman remained inside the school. AP
Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo has come under fire since the school shooting. VIA REUTERS
Police deploy in a hallway after Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School to kill 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. via REUTERS“Y’all hired him; y’all can fire him,” said parent Adam Martinez.
“In hindsight, this meeting should have happened earlier, I apologize that it did not. We tried to find the right time and right balance out of respect. I did not do well,” said the superintendent.
The district also announced the school year will begin after Labor Day, instead of in August, so that the district can finish adding security measures to harden schools against future threats.
