Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo said in an interview on Thursday that he did not consider himself to be the on-scene incident commander during the shooting at Robb Elementary School.
In an interview with the Texas Tribune, Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo finally decided to respond to criticism of incompetence after he failed to act before 19 students and two teachers were killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Arredondo said he did not consider himself to be in charge and didn’t give any commands to officers to beach the classroom and confront the gunman.
“I didn’t issue any orders,” Arredondo told the Texas Tribune. “I called for assistance and asked for an extraction tool to open the door.”
However, officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety have said that Arredondo made the “wrong decision” to wait to confront the gunman, contradicting his claims.
Uvalde Police have since come under intense criticism for waiting to engage the shooter and enter the classroom where he barricaded himself.
Arredondo also told the Tru=ibune that he knowingly “left his radio behind” when he arrived at the shooting.
Experts have said that a communications breakdown complicated the police response to the shooting.
The Texas Tribune report added that the police chief was also oblivious to the 911 calls and the ongoing response via officials and agencies at the site as a result of his lack of radio equipment.
Read more at the Texas Tribune.
