Former Uvalde police chief: 'I've been scapegoated from the very beginning'
UVALDE, Texas - Former Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo spoke on camera for the first time since the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Arredondo is charged with child endangerment in connection to the law enforcement failures in the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Pete Arredondo
The former chief pleaded not guilty to the charges last month.
"I've been scapegoated from the very beginning," Arredondo told CNN.
Arredondo was in the first group of law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene. It took more than an hour for law enforcement to move in and take down the gunman.
Arredondo was considered to be the incident commander, but failed to show proper training, according to a Justice Department review.
He denied having that role at all.
In his interview, Arredondo said he went in without a bulletproof vest and did everything in his power to stop the shooter.
"If you look at the body camera footage, there was no hesitation from myself and the first handful off officers who went straight towards the hot zone and took fire, then at that point we worked with what we had," Arredondo said.
Extensive video evidence shows the confusion in the hallways of the school. It took more than an hour to take down the gunman after the first officers on scene came under fire.
The reporter asked Arredondo if he could watch the body camera video to explain his comments on that day.
Arredondo said he doesn't watch the videos, saying it is too hard to relive those moments.
"I would rather not look at video clips, I don't, I've kept myself from that. It's difficult to see that. These are my children too. We went down the hallways every day and stressed about keeping doors locked and being vigilant," he said.
When asked if he thought he made any mistakes that day, Arredondo deflected the question.
"That's a hindsight statement. You can think all day and second guess yourself. We did the best we could with what we had," he responded.
Multiple times, Arredondo also said he did not recall telling the Border Patrol team to wait before going into the classroom where the gunman was positioned.
The former school district police chief said he hopes to regain the trust of the small community he calls home.
"I'm hoping to earn that. It's sad I lost that based on lies and deception and deceptive statements and narratives that are incorrect," said Arredondo.
Only one other person has been indicted on the law enforcement side: a former school district police officer, facing the same charges as Arredondo.
It's unclear if any other law enforcement will be charged in the fallout from the response.
Uvalde Department of Justice Report
Earlier this year, the Department of Justice released a nearly 600-page report detailing the ‘cascading failures’ by law enforcement on May 24, 2022.
Nearly 400 law enforcement officials responded to the campus, but waited for 77 minutes before entering the classroom and killing the 18-year-old shooter.
The report talked about the vast array of problems from failed communication and leadership, to the inadequate training and technology used by police.
A private investigator hired by the city cleared Uvalde city police of missteps.
Austin-based investigator Jesse Prado presented his findings this March.
Prado stated the department did not commit any wrongdoing or violate any policy.
Uvalde School Shooting Victims
19 Robb Elementary students were killed in the shooting.
- Xavier Javier Lopez, 10
- Amerie Jo Garza, 10
- Uziyah Garcia, 8
- Rojelio Torres, 10
- Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
- Nevaeh Bravo, 10
- Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
- Eliahana 'Elijah Cruz' Torres, 10
- Eliana 'Ellie' Garcia, 9
- Alithia Ramirez, 10
- Jacklyn "Jackie" Cazares, 9
- Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10
- Jailah Nicole Silguero, 11
- Jose Flores Jr, 10
- Alexandria "Lexi" Aniyah Rubio, 10
- Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10
- Tess "Tessy" Marie Mata, 10
- Maranda Gail Mathis, 11
- Layla Salazar, 10
Fourth-grade co-teachers 48-year-old Irma Garcia and 44-year-old Eva Mireles were also killed. Family members said at the time both died trying to protect their students.