Thursday, the administrator of the Texas school district where 19 children and two teachers were fatally shot announced that the district will hire more police officers in the fall, but did not give any details regarding the inquiry.
During a sometimes contentious news conference, officials from the Uvalde school system refused to address questions about the inquiry or personnel issues.
When asked if he still trusts the school district’s police chief, Pete Arredondo, Superintendent Hal Harrell responded, “That falls in line with some personnel, and I’m not going to comment on — I cannot comment in an open public forum.”
Critics contend that Arredondo, who was in command of law enforcement’s reaction to the May 24 incident at Robb Elementary School, delayed too long before sending agents into the closed classroom where the gunman was holed up and killing him.
The commissioner of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Steven McCraw, has stated that Arredondo, who was in charge of the multiagency response on May 24, made the “wrong judgment” by not ordering officers to breach the classroom more swiftly to confront the 18-year-old gunman.
The Associated Press has sent many interview requests and questions to Arredondo, but he has not answered.
More on this story via The Western Journal:
The gunman, Salvador Ramos, spent roughly 80 minutes inside the school, and more than an hour passed from when the first officers followed him into the building and when he was killed, according to an official timeline.
In the meantime, parents outside begged police to rush in and panicked children called 911 from inside.
Law enforcement and state officials have struggled to present an accurate timeline and details and have made frequent corrections to previous statements. Read more…