A former school police chief in the US made his first court appearance on Monday, accused of failing to take sufficient action during a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022.
Pete Arredondo pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment more than two years after the Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The 2022 attack was one of the worst school shootings in US history, with the police response heavily criticised for having “cascading failures” in training, communication and leadership among the officers who waited outside while victims lay dying and begging for help.
Lawyers for Arredondo have since filed to have the charges against him dismissed, arguing that the former Uvalde school district police chief should not be held responsible for actions he did not take on May 24, 2022.
Arredondo claims he has been “scapegoated” in the aftermath of the massacre, during which nearly 400 officers from federal, state and local agencies waited more than 70 minutes before acting.
The indictment against Arredondo alleges that the Texan man did not follow his active shooter training and made several critical decisions that actually slowed down police response time.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos went from classroom to classroom at his old elementary school, “hunting” down his victims.
The judge did not make a ruling on the motion on Monday. A federal review from the US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility released on Thursday found similar breakdowns in communication and command among Border Patrol agents.
The former schools police chief and Adrian Gonzalez, another former Uvalde school police officer who was indicted on 29 similar counts of endangerment and abandonment, are the only two officers facing criminal charges.
