Pete Arredondo needs to quit his job as Uvalde Independent School District chief of police. He’s already resigned his city council post, citing a need to clear the city of “distractions.”
The blunt truth, though, is that I cannot get past the scandalous excuse Arredondo has given for failing to stop a gunman from killing all those children and the two educators this past month at Robb Elementary School.
Arredondo said he “didn’t know” whether he was the lead officer in the moment.
So, what did he do? Nothing! For nearly one hour, the gunman kept killing children. Arredondo did not respond because he “didn’t know” whether he had authority to act.
I spoke with a North Texas educator immediately after the tragedy unfolded in Uvalde. This fellow, and I will keep his identity private, seemingly didn’t understand why the Uvalde cops waited. “We are going in,” the North Texas educator told me in describing how he would respond to a similar situation were it to occur on his watch.
“We aren’t waiting” for someone to determine who’s in charge, he said.
The lack of transparency and — so far! — the lack of accountability for what happened in Uvalde has upset many of us, most notably the loved ones of those who died in the slaughter.
Pete Arredondo is at the center of this continuing storm. He has failed his community and he needs to go.
First things first, though. Arredondo must explain what happened that day and why he froze while children and teachers were being shot to death.