Arredondo, second former Uvalde School District police officer charged in Robb Elementary School massacre

UVALDE, Texas – The former Uvalde School District police chief and a second former district official were charged Thursday in connection with the failed police response to the May 2022 massacre at Robb Elementary School.

According to ABC News, Pete Arredondo, who was fired months after a lone gunman murdered 19 students and two teachers at the school, is facing child endangerment charges.

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco confirmed to ABC News that Arredondo is currently in custody at the Uvalde County Jail.

Adrian Gonzales, another UCISD police officer who retired from the department last year, was also charged with child endangerment. Gonzalez is not in custody, according to Nolasco.

The charges come more than five months after a grand jury was convened in Uvalde County to review the case for possible criminal charges.

Ana Rodriquez, the mother of Maite Rodriquez, one of the students killed in the shooting, told ABC News that the Uvalde County District Attorney’s Office informed her it would file charges.

“My heart breaks for Maite. My heart breaks for her siblings. The fact that these two people are being held accountable doesn’t change anything for me, it doesn’t bring them back. Ultimately, it’s hard to believe that there is complete justice, because not everyone who needs to be held accountable is held accountable.”

Javier Cazares, the father of Jackie Cazares, who was also killed in the shooting, confirmed to ABC News that he had also spoken to prosecutors.

“We had hoped for more, but they are finally bringing someone to justice. But we believe more people should be charged,” he said.

Brett Cross, the guardian of Uziyah Garcia, who was killed in the shooting, said: “I’m shocked, but at the same time it’s still disturbing because there are 376 police officers there, but only two are being brought to justice. We knew she was going to go after Arredondo because everyone was saying that, but I’m glad she arrested someone else besides him.”

School district spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza said she was unaware of the allegations and the school district would not respond until sometime after the July 4 holiday.

The panel’s creation came a day after U.S. Department of Justice officials traveled to Uvalde to release a damning report on the failure of law enforcement in responding to the massacre.

Arredondo was largely blamed by the public after the shooting after he took command of the crime scene and made the decision not to enter the classroom where the shooter was, according to Texas Department of Public Safety officials.

On May 24, 2022, hundreds of police officers marched into Robb Elementary School.

But an investigation by a Texas House of Representatives committee found that police waited well over an hour before entering the classroom and engaging in a shootout with the gunman, killing him.

The Uvalde County District Attorney did not respond to multiple requests from KSAT for comment Thursday.

Read more reports about the KSAT Investigates Page.