The Uvalde, Texas, schools police chief who reportedly held back officers even as a maniac slaughtered 19 children and two teachers inside an elementary school last week denied reports he is not cooperating with the Texas Rangers’ ongoing probe of the incident.
Pete Arredondo, chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, told CNN he regularly speaks with the Texas Department of Safety, which is investigating the school police response to the horrific tragedy at Robb Elementary School.
“I am in touch with DPS everyday,” Arredondo told the news outlet.
Uvalde CISD Chief Arredondo tells CNN exclusively "I am in touch with DPS everyday.” Contradiction to what DPS has said. Said his swearing in last night as Uvalde city council member was “a private thing” out of respect for the families.
More live now on @cnn @aaroncooperNYC— Sarah Boxer (@Sarah_Boxer) June 1, 2022
The Texas DPS and the federal government have launched investigations into the local police response. On Tuesday, NBC reported that both the city police department and the schools’ police force were cooperating with investigations but that Arredondo was not.
“The chief of the Uvalde CISD Police provided an initial interview but has not responded to a request for a followup interview with the Texas Rangers that was made two days ago,” NBC correspondent Morgan Chesky wrote.
Arredondo was the incident commander at the scene and ordered officers not to engage the 18-year-old gunman who had stormed the school and was locked in a classroom full of kids, according to authorities. Eventually, federal agents, including elite border patrol officers, arrived on the scene and went into the school on their own. They entered the classroom in a “stack” formation and a border agent killed the gunman.
Pete Arredondo denied that he is not cooperating with a state probe of the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (Uvalde schools)
The gunman, who The Daily Wire is not naming in keeping with a policy aimed at depriving mass shooters of the notoriety that often motivates them, was killed a full 90 minutes after he first arrived at the school and shortly after began shooting.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Sunday it would probe the botched response. Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin requested the investigation amid growing evidence that local police hesitated to go into the school classroom as the shooter carried out the massacre.
“The goal of the review is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses that day, and to identify lessons learned and best practices to help first responders prepare for and respond to active shooter events,” said DOJ spokesman Anthony Coley.
Arredondo, who was elected to the Uvalde City Council on May 7, confirmed he was sworn in, although a public ceremony scheduled for Tuesday was canceled in the aftermath of the tragedy.