Uvalde school district police chief Pedro “Pete” Arredondo has resigned from his seat on the Uvalde city council, according to a resignation letter he sent to the city.
Uvalde had been elected to the council on May 7, just weeks before the the May 24 shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. He took the oath of office in secret and has not attended any of the council meetings since.
Law enforcement state officials said Arredondo was most responsible for the botched response to the massacre.
In his resignation letter, first reported by The Texa Tribune, Uvalde wrote: “After much consideration, it is in the best interest of the community to step down as a member of the City Council for District 3 to minimize further distractions,” Arredondo said in the letter. “The Mayor, the City Council, and the City Staff must continue to move forward to unite our community, once again.”
Arredondo, who has worked in law enforcement for nearly 30 years, has remained mostly silent about his decision-making that day, but he told the Texas Tribune in an interview that he did not consider himself the on-scene commander despite being the school district police chief.
As reported by CNN, “Council members unanimously voted to deny him a leave of absence from future sessions, leaving open the possibility that he could have been removed from office if he continued to miss meetings.”
