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Uvalde school board cancels meeting on firing embattled police chief

Texas School Shooting
Posted at 10:05 AM, Jul 22, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-23 08:08:15-04

Uvalde School Police Chief Pete Arredondo faced a possible termination vote on Saturday after the district’s superintendent recommended that he be fired.

But late on Friday, the school board said it is canceling Saturday's meeting at the request of an attorney representing Arredondo. The district said its chief will remain on unpaid leave and his fate will be determined at a future meeting.

Arredondo has been widely criticized for not leading officers into a classroom to confront the gunman responsible for killing 19 students and two teachers. Officials stated it took more than an hour for officials to engage the gunman.

A recent report showed many failures made by law enforcement during the incident.

Parents are upset at the lack of accountability shown by officials, including Arredondo.

"It's humiliating to see all these agencies fight and point the finger at each other, and no one wanting to take the blame for what happened, no one wanting to step up and be a leader, you know, and say, hey, we messed up," Angel Garza, stepfather to Amerie Jo Garza, told CNN. "That means something to us. The fact that everybody's just running from the situation is humiliating."

Amid criticism, Arredondo resigned from Uvalde City Council. He has largely avoided speaking publicly about the incident.