"I didn't issue any orders": Uvalde school police chief defends response to Robb Elementary shooting

The Uvalde school police chief, Pete Arredondo, who has been facing backlash for the poor handling of the Robb Elementary School shooting that led to 21 untimely deaths, has finally publicly spoken out, defending his actions.

Following the killing, the Texas police force, especially Arredondo, has come under significant scrutiny for lingering at the given time to apprehend the 18-year-old killer, Salvador Ramos.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Texas Tribune, Mr. Arredondo, 50, gave one of the first official accounts of the police response to the Uvalde elementary school massacre.

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Uvalde police chief: "I didn't issue any orders"

Reportedly, Uvalde police chief Mr. Arredondo, who was in charge of the situation, decided that the officers should wait to face the intruder.

One of the most substantial criticisms leveled against Mr. Arredondo has been his apparent move to reclassify the scenario from an "active shooter" to a "barricaded suspect" standoff, as indicated by Steve McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, in a press conference last month.

McCraw said after the attack:

"From the benefit of hindsight where I am sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision. Period. There's no excuse for that!"

Mr. Arredodo, speaking to the Tribune through his lawyer, countered the narratives against him. He refuted this scenario, saying he had no idea he was the incident commander and that another official had taken charge of the response. He went on to say that he never told cops not to attempt breaking into the school premises.

He mentioned:

"I didn't issue any orders. I called for assistance and asked for an extraction tool to open the door. Locked classroom door with a steel jamb barred him from the classroom where the gunman was holded up."

Since the deadly shooting at Uvalde school, the police chief has alleged that he has been receiving death threats and hateful remarks from people he's never even met. He said:

"Those are just people who just don't know the whole story that are making their assumptions on what they're hearing or reading. Nothing that the whole experience has been "difficult".

Arredondo also told the newspaper that he left his police radios at home before entering the Uvalde school because he thought they would slow him down and wouldn't operate in some classrooms.

However, one of the key criticisms about how police handled the incident was poor radio communications. Arredondo was cut off from connection with officers from at least five other agencies swarming the site and 911 dispatchers relaying information from desperate student callers pleading for aid.

Mr. Arredondo's defense attorney, Mr. Hyde, defended his client's position, claiming that even if police radios were in the hallway, they would have been switched off to prevent their location from being revealed.

In addition, he also stated that his client had requested tactical gear, a sniper, and the keys to the door while in the hallway. He tried dozens of keys that were failing miserably.

He explained:

"Right now, we can't get in until we get the tools. So, we are going to do what we can do to save lives. And what was that? It was to evacuate the students and the parents and the teachers out of the rooms."

Arredondo finished off by clearly saying:

"None of the accusations were accurate. Not a single responding officer ever hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk to save the children."

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Many people called for Arredondo's resignation considering his negligence at Uvalde massacre

While the community struggles to comprehend the atrocity of May 24 and put together the contradictory timeline of events, the focus has switched to Arredondo. He's being chastised for how he handled the aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting.

Many call for his resignation from the post as Uvalde police chief, citing his negligent attitude that could've saved a few lives. People call him a "coward" and "incompetent" in their social media posts.

Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, indicated that he had sought a detailed report on the events surrounding the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. However, he stated that he could not decide whether or not the school district's police chief should be sacked from his position.

He mentioned:

"As far as his employment status is concerned, that's something that is beyond my control and I have no knowledge about. Every act of all these officials will be known and identified and explained to the public."