Former Uvalde school police chief charged over slow response to 2022 massacre

Former school police chief Uvalde He was charged for his role in slow police response to the 2022 massacre at a Texas elementary school in which 19 children and two teachers were murdered, the local police chief said Thursday.

Pete Arredondo was indicted by a jury on 10 counts of felony endangering and abandoning minors of age and was briefly booked into the county jail before being released on bail, Uvalde local police chief Ruben Nolasco told The Associated Press in a text message sent Thursday night.

The newspapers Uvalde Leader-News and the San Antonio Express-News They reported that former police officer Adrian Gonzales was also charged with multiple similar charges. Uvalde Leader-News District Attorney Christina Mitchell confirmed the indictment, she said.

Mitchell did not respond to phone messages or emails sent by The Associated Presss looking for feedback. Several relatives of shooting victims did not respond to messages seeking comment.

The indictments make Arredondo, who was the on-scene commander during the attack, and Gonzales the first police officers to face criminal charges in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

A report by Texas lawmakers examining the police response described Gonzales as one of the first officers to enter the school after the shooting began.

The allegations were kept secret until the men were arrested. It was unclear when the indictment against Arredondo would be made public.

More than two years ago, a 18 year old started shooting in a 4th grade classroom, where he was held for more than 70 minutes until officers confronted and killed him.

In all, 376 police officers converged on Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, with some waiting in the hallway outside the classroom even as the gunman could be heard firing an AR-15 rifle inside the classroom.

“Today is a new day in an impossibly painful journey,” state Rep. Joe Moody, who helped lead the state lawmakers’ investigation, posted on Social Media X. “Today I pray that there will be justice and some sense of closure for them in this process rather than prolonged suffering.”

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to the newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, X and instagram.