UVALDE, Texas — The Uvalde School Board President provided a statement after it fired its embattled police chief at a school board meeting Wednesday.
Pete Arredondo was identified by Texas DPS as the incident commander in the response to the Robb Elementary School shooting and has drawn fierce criticism for the delayed response in confronting the shooter.
In Uvalde—parents continue their demands for change in school security. One parent of a Robb Elementary student who wasn’t hurt in the shooting says additional action is needed.
Arredondo and his attorney, who did not show up to the meeting citing safety concerns, stated Arredondo has been forced into the role of the “fall guy” over the response to the shooting.
Three months after 19 students and two teachers lost their lives at Robb Elementary, some parents feel a step, albeit small, was taken towards holding the officers accountable.
“That was just one, a little increment, but there was no need for celebration because this is something that we’ve asked to be done for many months now,” Tina Quintanilla-Taylor told KENS 5.
Her daughter was at Robb Elementary that fateful day. She’s now being homeschooled but Quintanilla-Taylor says her son is still enrolled in Uvalde schools.
They start school after Labor Day, and Quintanilla-Taylor is worried about school security.
“I know the superintendent has mentioned that a lot of this is going to take time, but I believe now at the three-month mark, how much time is it going to take?” she said.
Uvalde’s school board president Luis Fernandez provided a statement on Thursday saying “we recognize that this is an important step in accountability and rebuilding our community’s trust in the district.”
“We will continue to use the information we receive from the ongoing investigations and the Texas School Safety Center security audit to inform our decisions as we work to enhance safety across the district,” the statement said.
The blame for the “systemic failure” in law enforcement’s response has fallen mostly on Arredondo, out of the nearly 400 officers who responded to the shooting that day.
A preliminary investigative report states Arredondo should have been incident commander that day, according to school district policy.
But in a letter from Arredondo’s attorney George Hyde—he states those allegations are “patently false.”
The letter says Arredondo could not have served as the incident commander as he was on the front lines. Arredondo’s attorney is claiming other law enforcement agencies could’ve established command first when the suspect shot his grandmother, “which I understand was first known only by the [Uvalde] County Sheriff,” the letter wrote.
“Incident command obligations…fell upon several law enforcement agencies before and during the horrific events inside the hallway, which had nothing to do with the district of Chief Arredondo,” the letter states.
With Arredondo out—the district says it will contract an outside consultant to evaluate its department and hire officers.
Quintanilla says she wants substantial change made before the school year begins.
“You can make all the cosmetic changes you like, but that is not going to ensure the safety and the security of our youth,” Quintanilla-Taylor said.
In the letter, Arredondo asked the school board to immediately reinstate him with backpay and benefits.
Arredondo can appeal the school board’s decision.
It’s not clear if an appeal has been filed yet.