Austin, Texas — The Uvalde, Texas, school police chief failed to identify an active shooter, failed to follow his training, and made critical decisions that delayed law enforcement response to stop a killer who “hunted” victims and ultimately killed 21 people at Robb Elementary, according to an indictment released Friday.
Piet Arredondo had been arrested and was briefly jailed before being released Thursday night on suspicion of 10 felony counts in state prison, including abandoning or endangering a child in the May 24, 2022, attack that left 19 children and two teachers dead in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
Former school resource officer Adrian Gonzales was also indicted on several similar charges Uvalde Leader News and the San Antonio Express News reported. The Uvalde newspaper reported that District Attorney Christina Mitchell confirmed the charges.
Arredondo, who was the on-scene commander during the attack, and Gonzales are the first officers to face criminal charges.
The indictment against Arredondo, who was the commander on the scene of the shooting, accused the chief of delaying the police response despite hearing shots and being informed that there were injured children in the classrooms and that a teacher was there had been shot. Arredondo called for a SWAT team, ordered the first officers who responded to evacuate the building rather than confront the gunman, and attempted to negotiate with the 18-year-old gunman, the complaint said.
More than 370 federal, state and local officers arrived on the scene but waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman, even as the gunman could be heard firing an AR-15-style rifle. Terrified students in the classroom called 911 as anguished parents begged officers – some of whom could hear gunshots as they stood in a hallway – to go inside. A tactical team of officers eventually entered the classroom and killed the shooter.
The suit accuses Arredondo of failing to protect survivors of the attack, including Khloie Torres, who called 911 pleading for help and telling a dispatcher, “Please hurry. There are many dead bodies. Some of my teachers are still alive, but they were shot.”
The state prison charge carries a maximum prison sentence of two years if convicted.
Devastating stands And federal Investigation reports into the police response earlier that day mapped out “cascading failures” in training, communications, leadership and technology.
Arredondo lost his job three months after the shooting. Several officers involved were ultimately fired, and separate investigations by the Justice Department and state lawmakers accused law enforcement of botching their response to the massacre.