Texas School Board Fires Embattled Uvalde Police Chief in Mass Shooting Fallout

By Claire Bryan

Source Houston Chronicle

UVALDE, TX—The Uvalde school board listened to screaming, crying parents of children massacred at Robb Elementary School, spent a short while in executive session and then voted unanimously Wednesday evening to fire the district's embattled police chief, Pete Arredondo.

A crowd of about 200 people erupted in applause. Earlier, they had erupted in a bitter fury when they learned that Arredondo had spurned the chance to appear at a twice-delayed termination hearing scheduled for the same meeting.

The suspended police chief's lawyer issued a 17-page statement as the meeting began, saying the hearing was an insufficient forum to clear his name and hinting at a planned lawsuit that would argue his due process rights under the 14th Amendment were violated. And, the lawyer wrote, the district hadn't guaranteed Arredondo's safety amid common knowledge that people had threatened to kill him.

At the meeting's start, a brief announcement about Arredondo's no-show fueled a raucous public comment period, with a heavy news media presence.

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Arredondo took early blame for the seemingly leaderless response to the shooter at Robb Elementary School who killed 19 students and two teachers May 24, though a subsequent Texas House probe faulted virtually every commander from multiple agencies in charge of the more than 400 officers there.

The school district's superintendent recommended firing Arredondo in July but two attempts at a hearing were cancelled at the request of Arredondo's lawyer.

About 200 people attended Wednesday's meeting, and many reacted bitterly when they learned Arredondo would not be there. Family members of the shooting victims held large photographs of their lost loved ones.

"Our babies are dead. Our teachers are dead," Brett Cross shouted at the school board. "The least you can do is show us the respect to do this in public."

The public comment period was short, but in effect, it continued while the board was in closed session. As trustees left for another room, the crowd began screaming, "No justice, no peace!"

Niki Cross, guardian to Uziyah Garcia, 10, who was killed on May 24, grabbed the microphone and began sharing stories about Uziyah and others who were killed. Others followed with more stories about their grief and frustration at the school board.

"I miss my best friend," said Felicia Martinez, who lost her son Xavier Lopez on May 24. "His brothers miss him. Three months and they have forever to live. I don't know how we are going to do that. And with all the love and support and our new 21-angel family, I know we will get through this and it will take time."

"If the board can hear me, please change! Please change everything for our kids. Please change the safety, the protocols, everything. For those ones that need to get out, get out!"

Within weeks of the shooting, DPS director Steven McCraw said Arredondo was the incident commander responsible for the chaotic law enforcement response and hour's delay in confronting the shooter, Salvador Ramos, 18.

After placing him on administrative leave in June, school district officials have declined to comment on Arredondo's employment status through almost three months of angry public demands that he be fired. He resigned from his City Council seat and a special election has been set for November to fill it.

His Georgetown-based attorney, George E. Hyde, has not responded to interview requests. Superintendent Hal Harrell's recommendation that the chief be fired was on the July 23 school board agenda, but the hearing was scrapped, as was a subsequent date, at Hyde's request, officials have said.

Hyde's statement Wednesday said the school board and superintendent had not criticized Arredondo's performance on May 24 until the day he was placed on paid administrative leave a month later, told not to comment publicly but to cooperate with outside investigations, and barred from school grounds.

He received notice of Harrell's decision to recommend his firing on July 19 and was put on unpaid leave, but without a formal complaint or investigation, before or since, that state law requires — and with possible witnesses on his behalf intimidated by a gag order issued by the local district attorney, Hyde wrote.

"Moreover, it has been publicly reported that Chief Arredondo has been the victim of death threats made by individuals with the means to carry them out. The last thing anyone wants is for these proceedings to be compounded by violence, especially gun violence," the statement said. "Despite death threats being common knowledge, the School District has not disclosed any effort on its part to ensure the safety of Chief Arredondo, his legal counsel, or any of the pubic in attendance under such tense circumstances."

Cross scoffed at the notion that Arredondo was in danger and flatly denied that anyone had threatened him.

"For him to not be here and not face the consequences to his actions," she began, and was interrupted by people in the crowd yelling, "Coward!"

"Exactly," Cross said.

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