Former Uvalde School Police Chief Pete Arredondo arrested two years after Robb Elementary School shooting

UVALDE — Pete Arredondo, the former police chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, was arrested Thursday, more than two years after the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School.

Arredondo was booked into the Uvalde County Jail on 10 counts of child endangerment, Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco told CBS News in a text message. He was released from custody after posting $10,000 bail, Nolasco said.

The San Antonio Express-News reported that a grand jury has indicted Arredondo and a second officer who responded to the shooting in Uvalde.

“It’s very emotional,” said Jesse Rizo, the uncle of Jackie Cazares, one of the victims. “I knew this day was coming. I wasn’t sure how long it would last.”

In a statement to CBS News Thursday evening, the school district said it had “just learned of the grand jury’s decision to bring two indictments” and had “no information other than what is being reported in the media.”

“As we have done and continue to do, we extend our sincere condolences to all who have lost loved ones,” Uvalde CISD said. “Our deepest sympathies go out to all those affected by this difficult situation.”

The alleged charges reported by Express-News come more than two years after the death of a teenage shooter 19 students and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary. Police officers killed the shooter in a classroom after waited more than an hour to confront him, which was heavily criticized in the wake of the shooting. Arredondo was fired in 2022, three months after the day of the shooting.

Rizo called Arredondo’s arrest a step in the right direction and hopes that more charges will follow.

“It’s obvious that his conduct was wrong. It’s obvious that he could have saved many lives, but to sit there and search for keys on a key chain for a long time is simply unacceptable,” Rizo said. “I’m surprised that many other officers have not been charged. That disappoints me, but I’m happy that there’s finally a verdict.”

The The Ministry of Justice published a sobering report in January on the law enforcement response to the mass shooting, pointing to a series of “cascading failures” by the police chief and others.

In May, family members of Victims of the school massacre in Uvalde has reached a $2 million settlement with Uvalde. The city of Uvalde will pay a total of $2 million to the families of the children killed in the shooting and two surviving children, according to a statement from the families’ attorneys.