Pete Arendo, a former school police chief who was criticized last week for a fatal delay in responding to a school massacre, was sworn in as a city council member in Mayor Don McLaughlin’s office on Tuesday. AnnouncedPreviously, state law enforcement said it could not respond to their request for an interview during an investigation into a school shooting.
According to NBC News, the mayor initially postponed the swearing -in ceremony in honor of the victims ’families, but instead held it without a public ceremony. Arendondo was elected to the city council earlier this year.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said Arendo did not respond to a request for additional interviews from a Texas ranger during the May 24 investigation into the Robbie Elementary School Police Delayed Response, according to multiple reports.
Arendo, however, denied the allegations on Wednesday. He told CNN: “I have daily interaction with DPS.”
This was stated by a representative of the DPS Texas Tribune E ABC news Arendo did not respond to requests for two days.
“The boss needs it [Consolidated Independent School District] “Police received an initial interview but did not respond to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Ranger two days ago,” DPS said in a statement. Grandstand.
The official police department and the official school district police are still cooperating with the state investigation, the note read.
“There have been interviews in both departments since Friday,” a spokesman told the Times.
Information about Arendondo’s absence came just days after Public Safety Director Stephen McCrom held a press conference on Friday and admitted that defense officers made the “wrong decision” when they postponed admission to the fourth. that stage. to prevent the 18-year-old from attacking. 19 students and two teachers were killed at the school.
McCrom also told reporters Friday that the incident commander assigned to respond to the shooting chose to wait because he mistakenly believed the shooter was barricaded behind a locked door and was no longer a danger to children.
While he was detained with the students, a gun was fired at the class.
“Last time I swam today, obviously, it wasn’t the right decision, it was the wrong decision, there was no justification for it,” McCrom said.
The commander of the incident was identified as Arendondo.
As the investigation into the police response continued, the law enforcement officers in charge offered various explanations for what happened when the police and other law enforcement officers responded to the shooting. .
Although McCrow said agents at the scene believed the culprit was no longer a threat, DPS spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Olivares told CNN on Friday that agents didn’t want to face the shooter because “he didn’t want to face it”. Olivares also said they were waiting for a U.S. Border Patrol Battle Group to deal with the shooter.
Furthermore, initial reports that the teacher opened the door of the school where a gunman entered are believed to be false.
Investigators said Tuesday they found the teacher removing the rock and closing the door outside when he heard a gunman arrive at the school. However, the door was not locked, Travis Considine, communications officer of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told The Associated Press.
“He came out while someone was talking on the phone, he heard someone shout, ‘He has a gun!’ Considine AP told him.
“We confirmed that he closed the door. “The door is not locked,” Considin added. “As much as we know and now investigators are looking into why it wasn’t intercepted.”
Source: Huffpost
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