Former Uvalde Police Chief Explains Reason For Not Going After Shooter In Newly Released Interview

Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the former Uvalde In an interview, the school district chief of police, discussed his terrible decisions after the shooting in May last year.

Arredondo interviewed authorities following the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde (Texas) that resulted into the deaths nineteen students, and two teachers. The interview was acquired by CNN.

He stated that the key decision point was when he saw other classrooms that had children in them. 

“Once I realized that was going on, my first thought is that we need to vacate. We have him contained – and I know this is horrible and I know it’s [what] our training tells us to do but – we have him contained, there’s probably going to be some deceased in there, but we don’t need any more from out here,” Arredondo said. 

“The ammunition was penetrating the walls at that point,” Arredondo Telled The Texas Tribune June 2013 “We’ve got him cornered, we’re unable to get to him. You realize you need to evacuate those classrooms while we figured out a way to get in.”

Arredondo was reported to have maintained his decision for over an hour. He even thought he heard him loading his weapon again. This happened after it became clear that Arredondo had children in the room with him. 

The Tribune reported that he had told Tribune that he “didn’t issue any orders” And “called for assistance and asked for an extraction tool to open the door,” the new interview showed that wasn’t true. 

He claimed that he instructed officers to form a “pyramid” Keep to one side of hallway to avoid any crossfire in the event that the shooter emerges. He also decided that he would rather get rid of the shooter than pursue him.

“We’re going to clear out this building before we do any breach,” Arredondo reportedly told police officers in the hallway that he was being questioned by law enforcement, as was captured on body camera footage. “As soon as they clear this room, I’m going to verify what’s been vacated, guys, before we do any kind of breaching.”

“Time’s on our side right now. I know we probably have kids in there, but we’ve got to save the lives of the other ones,” He continued. 

Arredondo stated in the interview that “We’re going to get scrutinized, I’m expecting that. We’re getting scrutinized for why we didn’t go in there.” 

“I know what the firepower [the shooter] had, based on what shells I saw, the holes in the wall in the room next to his. I also know I had students that were around there that weren’t in the immediate threat besides the ones I know were in the immediate threat and the preservation of life around, everything around him, I felt was priority,” He elaborated. “Because I know there’s probably victims in there and with the shots I heard, I know there’s probably somebody who’s going to be deceased. I know these weren’t,” He spoke out about those in the other classrooms.

He also said he thought the door in the hallway was locked but didn’t try to get it open. However, he stated previously that he had tried to open them with another officer. 

Children in the room with the shooter It was successful Uvalde police officers stood by in a hallway waiting to help. United States Border Patrol Tactical Unit staff eventually Shot The gunman. Arredondo was arrested in August. Fired.