Ex-Uvalde school police chief indicted in school shooting investigation
June 27 (UPI) -- Former Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo was arrested Thursday in connection with an investigation into the police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Arredondo, who was fired three months after a teenage gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in May 2022, was charged with 10 counts of child endangerment. He is being held at the Uvalde County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
Adrian Gonzales, a Uvalde School District officer who resigned last year, also is wanted for child endangerment. He has yet to turn himself in.
Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell began a criminal investigation into the police response shortly after the shooting and convened a grand jury in January to review evidence against hundreds of officers.
The "magnitude" of the investigation caused it to go on for longer than a year, which was initially projected, Mitchell said.
The charges come more than two years after the Robb Elementary shooting, which was the second-worst school shooting in American history.
The Uvalde Police Department came under fire for its slow response, after it was revealed officers waited over an hour on the scene before entering the school and killing the gunman.
The charges also come days after the Justice Department announced it would provide technical assistance to help reform the police department and rebuild trust between the department and the community.
The Justice Department in January issued a brutal review of the police department's response, chalking it up to "a series of major failures, failures in leadership, in tactics, in communication, in training and in preparedness."
Families of the victims last month reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde.
Ana Rodriquez, mother of one of the victims Maite Rodriquez, told ABC News the DA alerted her of the filing.
"My heart breaks for Maite. My heart breaks for her siblings," she said. "The fact that these two people are being held accountable doesn't change anything for me, it doesn't bring her back."
Javier Cazares, father Jackie Cazares, who also was killed in the shooting said of the indictments, "it's something. We were hoping more, but they are going to finally bring someone to justice."
