Social Former Uvalde school police chief, officer indicted in 1st-ever criminal charges over failed response to 2022 mass shooting

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A grand jury has indicted two former Uvalde school police officers in the botched law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, two Texas state government sources with knowledge of the indictment told CNN Thursday.

Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales were named in the indictments, which represent the first criminal charges filed in the school massacre.

Arredondo surrendered himself to the custody of the Texas Rangers in Uvalde on Thursday, an official with the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN. The former chief was booked on 10 counts of child endangerment and known criminal negligence, according to the indictment.

Arredondo was then released on bond, according to the Uvalde County Jail.
Gonzales was booked into the Uvalde County Jail early Friday afternoon, the Uvalde Leader-News reported, citing Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brandon McCutchen.
Gonzales was waiting to be processed, McCutchen told the paper. Earlier in the day, Gonzales’ attorney Nico LaHood told CNN in a statement the former school police officer was planning to self-surrender “so the judicial process can move forward.”
“It is very early on in our representation, so we will be working to acquire the evidence, the government is relying on, in this accusation,” LaHood said.

“Mr. Gonzales’ position is he did not violate school district policy or state law. The application of this statute, to law enforcement, under these circumstances is unprecedented in the state of Texas. It will take time to evaluate these allegations and the underlying facts,” LaHood continued.
CNN has reached out to the Uvalde County Jail for more information.
Mugshot for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.

Mugshot for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Uvalde County Sheriff's Department
The indictment against Gonzales was not immediately available from the Uvalde County District Court clerk’s office.
“Our administration has not been contacted by the District Attorney’s Office regarding any of our staff and we don’t have any comment at this time regarding the matter,” the Uvalde Police Department said in a statement on Facebook Thursday night.
The Uvalde County District Attorney’s office is not planning to file any more indictments in the botched response to the shooting, according to family members who have spoken to District Attorney Christina Mitchell.

Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old victim Lexi Rubio, and Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, told CNN they were informed by Mitchell there would be no further indictments coming out of the grand jury.
“I’m glad two people are indicted,” Mata-Rubio told CNN Friday. “It’s not justice until there are convictions. But I am also aware that there were others at fault that day, and it’s hard to accept that they will not face any consequences.”
“I would be lying if I didn’t say I feel like that’s not enough,” Cross told CNN.
Arredondo faces 10 felony charges of child endangerment for failing to recognize the incident as an active shooting and for failing to take proper action to intervene, the indictment says, and these behaviors placed each child in “imminent danger of bodily injury, death, physical impairment and mental impairment.”
Gonzales also faces felony charges of abandoning and endangering a child, Mit
The district attorney’s office declined to comment to CNN Friday.

Family members of the victims have been meeting with the DA’s office to discuss the results of the months-long grand jury investigation, according to Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, one of the fourth graders killed in the shooting rampage.
Jesse Rizo, the uncle of one of the students killed, Jacklyn Cazares, said he was pleasantly surprised to learn about two officers’ indictments, but had hoped more people were faced with criminal charges, he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Friday.
“It’s the beginning of something, right?” Rizo said. “But in order to bring closure, you would want all the officers that didn’t do their job that day, that failed to respond appropriately, you would want them to be held accountable in an equal way.”
Rizo hopes the DA will explain her intentions in public and indicate if any more indictments can be expected, he said.
“A lot of us are not exposed to the daily legalities of all these things, so we get a little confused with the technical things that go on,” Rizo said. “There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered as well.”
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District offered its condolences to the families of the victims Friday, saying it had no further information to add. “As with the rest of the Uvalde community, we have only just learned about the grand jury decision regarding two indictments being issued,” school district spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza said in a statement.

How the fallout unfolded​

Earlier this year, the US Justice Department released a damning report that concluded law enforcement officers had many opportunities to reassess their flawed response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School.

Bursts of gunfire, reports a teacher had been shot and then a desperate call from a student trapped with the gunman could – and should – all have prompted a drive to stop the bloodshed far sooner, said the report.
Instead, it took 77 minutes from when the 18-year-old shooter walked into Robb Elementary School until he was stopped. The carnage remains among the deadliest episodes in America’s ongoing scourge of campus shootings.
Critical failures in leadership among specific law enforcement officers who rushed to Robb Elementary are cited by the Justice Department, whose 575-page report was released nearly 20 months after the massacre.
Arredondo was fired in August 2022 for his role in the failed response. In May, his replacement, Joshua Gutierrez, submitted his resignation and his last day on the job was Wednesday, according to a school official’s statement.
Gonzales, who had been with school district police since July 2021 and previously with Uvalde police since 2009, told investigators he was at the high school when he heard a report of a vehicle accident by Robb Elementary and went to check. Gonzales, who said he was one of the first officers to arrive, heard shots and entered the south hallway along with Arredondo.
Gonzales said he tried to call for the SWAT team on his radio but could not transmit inside the school building so he left.

“Once I got out to get radio reception, I never went back in,” he told investigators.


Good f em

Discuss
 
Last edited:
Simple Southerner said:

A grand jury has indicted two former Uvalde school police officers in the botched law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, two Texas state government sources with knowledge of the indictment told CNN Thursday.

Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales were named in the indictments, which represent the first criminal charges filed in the school massacre.

Arredondo surrendered himself to the custody of the Texas Rangers in Uvalde on Thursday, an official with the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN. The former chief was booked on 10 counts of child endangerment and known criminal negligence, according to the indictment.

Arredondo was then released on bond, according to the Uvalde County Jail.
Gonzales was booked into the Uvalde County Jail early Friday afternoon, the Uvalde Leader-News reported, citing Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brandon McCutchen.
Gonzales was waiting to be processed, McCutchen told the paper. Earlier in the day, Gonzales’ attorney Nico LaHood told CNN in a statement the former school police officer was planning to self-surrender “so the judicial process can move forward.”
“It is very early on in our representation, so we will be working to acquire the evidence, the government is relying on, in this accusation,” LaHood said.

“Mr. Gonzales’ position is he did not violate school district policy or state law. The application of this statute, to law enforcement, under these circumstances is unprecedented in the state of Texas. It will take time to evaluate these allegations and the underlying facts,” LaHood continued.
CNN has reached out to the Uvalde County Jail for more information.
Mugshot for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.

Mugshot for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Uvalde County Sheriff's Department
The indictment against Gonzales was not immediately available from the Uvalde County District Court clerk’s office.
“Our administration has not been contacted by the District Attorney’s Office regarding any of our staff and we don’t have any comment at this time regarding the matter,” the Uvalde Police Department said in a statement on Facebook Thursday night.
The Uvalde County District Attorney’s office is not planning to file any more indictments in the botched response to the shooting, according to family members who have spoken to District Attorney Christina Mitchell.

Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old victim Lexi Rubio, and Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, told CNN they were informed by Mitchell there would be no further indictments coming out of the grand jury.
“I’m glad two people are indicted,” Mata-Rubio told CNN Friday. “It’s not justice until there are convictions. But I am also aware that there were others at fault that day, and it’s hard to accept that they will not face any consequences.”
“I would be lying if I didn’t say I feel like that’s not enough,” Cross told CNN.
Arredondo faces 10 felony charges of child endangerment for failing to recognize the incident as an active shooting and for failing to take proper action to intervene, the indictment says, and these behaviors placed each child in “imminent danger of bodily injury, death, physical impairment and mental impairment.”
Gonzales also faces felony charges of abandoning and endangering a child, Mit
The district attorney’s office declined to comment to CNN Friday.

Family members of the victims have been meeting with the DA’s office to discuss the results of the months-long grand jury investigation, according to Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, one of the fourth graders killed in the shooting rampage.
Jesse Rizo, the uncle of one of the students killed, Jacklyn Cazares, said he was pleasantly surprised to learn about two officers’ indictments, but had hoped more people were faced with criminal charges, he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Friday.
“It’s the beginning of something, right?” Rizo said. “But in order to bring closure, you would want all the officers that didn’t do their job that day, that failed to respond appropriately, you would want them to be held accountable in an equal way.”
Rizo hopes the DA will explain her intentions in public and indicate if any more indictments can be expected, he said.
“A lot of us are not exposed to the daily legalities of all these things, so we get a little confused with the technical things that go on,” Rizo said. “There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered as well.”
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District offered its condolences to the families of the victims Friday, saying it had no further information to add. “As with the rest of the Uvalde community, we have only just learned about the grand jury decision regarding two indictments being issued,” school district spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza said in a statement.

How the fallout unfolded​

Earlier this year, the US Justice Department released a damning report that concluded law enforcement officers had many opportunities to reassess their flawed response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School.

Bursts of gunfire, reports a teacher had been shot and then a desperate call from a student trapped with the gunman could – and should – all have prompted a drive to stop the bloodshed far sooner, said the report.
Instead, it took 77 minutes from when the 18-year-old shooter walked into Robb Elementary School until he was stopped. The carnage remains among the deadliest episodes in America’s ongoing scourge of campus shootings.
Critical failures in leadership among specific law enforcement officers who rushed to Robb Elementary are cited by the Justice Department, whose 575-page report was released nearly 20 months after the massacre.
Arredondo was fired in August 2022 for his role in the failed response. In May, his replacement, Joshua Gutierrez, submitted his resignation and his last day on the job was Wednesday, according to a school official’s statement.
Gonzales, who had been with school district police since July 2021 and previously with Uvalde police since 2009, told investigators he was at the high school when he heard a report of a vehicle accident by Robb Elementary and went to check. Gonzales, who said he was one of the first officers to arrive, heard shots and entered the south hallway along with Arredondo.
Gonzales said he tried to call for the SWAT team on his radio but could not transmit inside the school building so he left.

“Once I got out to get radio reception, I never went back in,” he told investigators.


Good f em

Discuss
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure courts (in the US) have already ruled that police don’t actually have a legal responsibility to protect citizens.
 
If you fail to do your job and children die and you actively prevent others from doing their jobs, you deserve to be charged like the bitch you are. I see some issues arrising because of former Supreme Court rulings, but it depends on how the jury interprets them. It is based upon two nyc transit cops standing by while a man attacked people with a knife without engaging because they were cowards. The scotus ruled police can’t be responsible for preventing crime. It should be interpreted, imo, that while police can’t be precogs and prevent crime, they should have to take action when they see crime happening.
 
nhbbear said:
If you fail to do your job and children die and you actively prevent others from doing their jobs, you deserve to be charged like the bitch you are. I see some issues arrising because of former Supreme Court rulings, but it depends on how the jury interprets them. It is based upon two nyc transit cops standing by while a man attacked people with a knife without engaging because they were cowards. The scotus ruled police can’t be responsible for preventing crime. It should be interpreted, imo, that while police can’t be precogs and prevent crime, they should have to take action when they see crime happening.
Click to expand...
The police were actively searching for the man that was attacking people with the knife. They decided to hide from him once they found him.
 
He's not fit for duty, but I don't see any criminality.

If they're gonna do this kind of thing for cops, then they need to give them military like rules, and have them tried under a law enforcement tribunal of some sort. I don't see this going very far in a public court. I don't think cops have special rules that legally obligates them to run into life threatening situations. They're expected to and it's certainly a job requirement, but I don't think they are legally bound to do it, like folks in the military are.
 
They absolutely should be held accountable for their shit response. It became blatant very early on how incompetent and probably cowardly the initial response was. Thank god there were actual real officers on scene that got sick of listening to his shitty orders and went in (unfortunately too late by then). So yeah he 100% should be held responsible.

 
Simple Southerner said:

A grand jury has indicted two former Uvalde school police officers in the botched law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, two Texas state government sources with knowledge of the indictment told CNN Thursday.

Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales were named in the indictments, which represent the first criminal charges filed in the school massacre.

Arredondo surrendered himself to the custody of the Texas Rangers in Uvalde on Thursday, an official with the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN. The former chief was booked on 10 counts of child endangerment and known criminal negligence, according to the indictment.

Arredondo was then released on bond, according to the Uvalde County Jail.
Gonzales was booked into the Uvalde County Jail early Friday afternoon, the Uvalde Leader-News reported, citing Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Brandon McCutchen.
Gonzales was waiting to be processed, McCutchen told the paper. Earlier in the day, Gonzales’ attorney Nico LaHood told CNN in a statement the former school police officer was planning to self-surrender “so the judicial process can move forward.”
“It is very early on in our representation, so we will be working to acquire the evidence, the government is relying on, in this accusation,” LaHood said.

“Mr. Gonzales’ position is he did not violate school district policy or state law. The application of this statute, to law enforcement, under these circumstances is unprecedented in the state of Texas. It will take time to evaluate these allegations and the underlying facts,” LaHood continued.
CNN has reached out to the Uvalde County Jail for more information.
Mugshot for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.

Mugshot for former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Uvalde County Sheriff's Department
The indictment against Gonzales was not immediately available from the Uvalde County District Court clerk’s office.
“Our administration has not been contacted by the District Attorney’s Office regarding any of our staff and we don’t have any comment at this time regarding the matter,” the Uvalde Police Department said in a statement on Facebook Thursday night.
The Uvalde County District Attorney’s office is not planning to file any more indictments in the botched response to the shooting, according to family members who have spoken to District Attorney Christina Mitchell.

Kimberly Mata-Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old victim Lexi Rubio, and Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, told CNN they were informed by Mitchell there would be no further indictments coming out of the grand jury.
“I’m glad two people are indicted,” Mata-Rubio told CNN Friday. “It’s not justice until there are convictions. But I am also aware that there were others at fault that day, and it’s hard to accept that they will not face any consequences.”
“I would be lying if I didn’t say I feel like that’s not enough,” Cross told CNN.
Arredondo faces 10 felony charges of child endangerment for failing to recognize the incident as an active shooting and for failing to take proper action to intervene, the indictment says, and these behaviors placed each child in “imminent danger of bodily injury, death, physical impairment and mental impairment.”
Gonzales also faces felony charges of abandoning and endangering a child, Mit
The district attorney’s office declined to comment to CNN Friday.

Family members of the victims have been meeting with the DA’s office to discuss the results of the months-long grand jury investigation, according to Brett Cross, the guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, one of the fourth graders killed in the shooting rampage.
Jesse Rizo, the uncle of one of the students killed, Jacklyn Cazares, said he was pleasantly surprised to learn about two officers’ indictments, but had hoped more people were faced with criminal charges, he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan Friday.
“It’s the beginning of something, right?” Rizo said. “But in order to bring closure, you would want all the officers that didn’t do their job that day, that failed to respond appropriately, you would want them to be held accountable in an equal way.”
Rizo hopes the DA will explain her intentions in public and indicate if any more indictments can be expected, he said.
“A lot of us are not exposed to the daily legalities of all these things, so we get a little confused with the technical things that go on,” Rizo said. “There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered as well.”
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District offered its condolences to the families of the victims Friday, saying it had no further information to add. “As with the rest of the Uvalde community, we have only just learned about the grand jury decision regarding two indictments being issued,” school district spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza said in a statement.

How the fallout unfolded​

Earlier this year, the US Justice Department released a damning report that concluded law enforcement officers had many opportunities to reassess their flawed response to the May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School.

Bursts of gunfire, reports a teacher had been shot and then a desperate call from a student trapped with the gunman could – and should – all have prompted a drive to stop the bloodshed far sooner, said the report.
Instead, it took 77 minutes from when the 18-year-old shooter walked into Robb Elementary School until he was stopped. The carnage remains among the deadliest episodes in America’s ongoing scourge of campus shootings.
Critical failures in leadership among specific law enforcement officers who rushed to Robb Elementary are cited by the Justice Department, whose 575-page report was released nearly 20 months after the massacre.
Arredondo was fired in August 2022 for his role in the failed response. In May, his replacement, Joshua Gutierrez, submitted his resignation and his last day on the job was Wednesday, according to a school official’s statement.
Gonzales, who had been with school district police since July 2021 and previously with Uvalde police since 2009, told investigators he was at the high school when he heard a report of a vehicle accident by Robb Elementary and went to check. Gonzales, who said he was one of the first officers to arrive, heard shots and entered the south hallway along with Arredondo.
Gonzales said he tried to call for the SWAT team on his radio but could not transmit inside the school building so he left.

“Once I got out to get radio reception, I never went back in,” he told investigators.


Good f em

Discuss
Click to expand...
Cops aren't above the law
 
That Florida cop sat by and listened to kids get murdered and wasn't charged. These POS will get off too.

There is that one cop (in Texas?) who basically ran around the entire parking lot trying to find the shooter. He then engaged and killed him. That guy is a hero and should be the standard for all police.
 
Cherry Brigand said:
That Florida cop sat by and listened to kids get murdered and wasn't charged. These POS will get off too.

There is that one cop (in Texas?) who basically ran around the entire parking lot trying to find the shooter. He then engaged and killed him. That guy is a hero and should be the standard for all police.
Click to expand...

 
Whilst I don't agree with what they did in response to the shooting, this isn't the way to go. They haven';t committed these offences, just been negligent in their role. The issue is that everyone was from the other Police agencies on scene, to the teachers who didn't follow their own policy. Sure old matey shit the bed, but he isn't guilty of the charges unless everyone else.

www.texastribune.org

“Systemic failures” in Uvalde shooting went far beyond local police, Texas House report details

In total, 376 law enforcement officers descended upon the school, according to the most extensive account of the shooting to date. It says that better-equipped departments should have stepped up to fill a leadership void after the Uvalde schools police chief failed to take charge.
www.texastribune.org www.texastribune.org

Sad situation that most likely couldn't have been prevented even with a better response, though some lives may have been saved.
 
DoctorTaco said:
Having cops investigate themselves isn’t really working well for us as is. I don’t want to put more on their plate
Click to expand...
Within the public court system, sure. Internal affairs can only do so much. They should have a separate entity, if they're gonna be tasking cops with legal shit regarding their responsibilities. I think having that, would also raise the bar for people who are willing to accept those responsibilities.

Never really thought about it before, but I think it would be a net positive. These guys do operate outside of the system, so "the system" shouldn't be trying them as civilians, as if they're on equal footing. They have special rules, so make a special court for them.
 
Can we go after the dude with the punisher background on his phone next?
 
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