The director of the Texas Department of Public Security, Colonel Steven McCraw, did not mention the officer’s name at a news conference Friday, but said he made the “wrong decision” not to engage the gunman as soon as possible.
The Uvalde school district police chief is Pedro “Pete” Arredondo.
“A decision was made that this was a handicap subject’s position,” McCraw said of the incident commander’s “thought process” at the time.
At the same time, children inside classes 111 and 112 of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde repeatedly called 911 and pleaded for help, he said. They were among the deadliest school shootings since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre.
“While I’m sitting now, with the benefit of the sight, it certainly wasn’t the right decision,” McCraw said of the observer’s call not to face the shooter. “It was the wrong decision. Period. There’s no excuse for it.”
When asked by reporters whether Arredondo was at the scene during the shooting, McCraw declined to comment.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Friday that he is seeking a full account of what happened during the shooting of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, but said he had no doubts about whether the school district’s police chief should be fired. No one has to say.
“As far as their employment status is concerned, this is something that is beyond my control and I have no idea about it,” Abbott said. “Every act of all those officers shall be made known and recognized and explained to the public.”
Arredondo has not spoken publicly about the shooting since two very brief press statements on the day of the tragedy.
CNN attempted to reach his home in Arredondo on Friday, but there was no response.
Arredondo is identified as the police chief on the website of the Uvalde school district and was introduced at news conferences Tuesday after the shooting at Rob Elementary.
At news conferences, Arredondo said the gunman was dead, but provided little information on the massacre, citing an “active investigation” and taking no questions from those gathered.
According to the school district, Arredondo has nearly three decades of law enforcement experience, and was recently elected to a seat on Uvalde’s city council.
The school district’s board of trustees approved Arredondo to head the department in 2020. The district’s superintendent, Hal Harrell, said in a Facebook post at the time that the board was “convinced of our selection and impressed by their experience, knowledge and community involvement.”
Arredondo told Uvalde Leader-News after his appointment that he was happy to return to work in his hometown and that he wanted to emphasize education and training in the police department. “We can never have enough training,” he told the newspaper.
In March, Arredondo posted on Facebook that his department was hosting “active shooters training” at Uvalde High School in an effort to prepare local law enforcement to respond to “any situation that may arise.” A flyer for the event said that the topics covered would include priorities for school-based law enforcement and “how to prevent homicide”.
Arredondo previously served as a captain in a school district police department in Laredo, Texas, and in several roles in the Uvalde Police Department.
CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this story.