UVALDE, Texas – The former Uvalde school district police chief and a second former officer of the district were indicted Thursday in connection to the failed police response to the May 2022 shooting massacre at Robb Elementary School.
Pete Arredondo, who was fired months after 19 students and two teachers were killed inside the school by a lone gunman, was indicted on 10 counts of abandoning/endangering a child.
Arredondo’s indictment was handed up by a grand jury just after 3 p.m. Thursday, court records obtained by KSAT show.
Uvalde County jail officials confirmed that Arredondo was booked into jail, but no longer in custody as of 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Arredondo had his bond set at $10,000, court records show.
Adrian Gonzales, another UCISD police officer who resigned from the department last year according to the Uvalde Leader-News, was also indicted for child endangerment. Gonzales had not surrendered and was not in custody, officials said.
The charges come more than five months after a grand jury in Uvalde County was first impaneled to review the case for possible criminal charges.
Ana Rodriguez, the mother of Maite Rodriguez, one of the students killed in the shooting, told ABC News that the Uvalde County District Attorney’s Office told her it was filing charges.
”My heart breaks for Maite,” Rodriguez said. “My heart breaks for her siblings. The fact that these two people are being held accountable doesn’t change anything for me, it doesn’t bring her back. At the end of the day, it’s hard to believe there is complete justice because not everyone who we needs to be held accountable is going to be held accountable.”
Javier Cazares, the father of Jackie Cazares, who was also killed in the shooting, confirmed to ABC News that he also spoke with the DA’s office.
”It’s something, we were hoping (for) more, but they are going to finally bringing someone to justice. But we feel there should be more facing charges,” he said.
Brett Cross, the guardian of Uziyah Garcia, who died in the shooting, said, ”I’m shocked but at the same time it’s still upsetting because there are 376 officers there, but only two are being tried. We knew she was going to go after Arredondo because everyone was saying that, but I’m glad to see she’s picked up somebody besides him.”
School district spokeswoman Anne Marie Espinoza initially said she was not aware of the charges and that the school district would not have a response until sometime after the Fourth of July holiday.
However, Espinoza later released a statement on Thursday evening.
“As with the rest of the Uvalde community, we have only just learned about the grand jury decision regarding two indictments being issued,” Espinoza said in the statement. “We have no information separate from what is being reported by the media. As we have done and continue to do, we extend our sincerest sympathies to all who lost loved ones. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this challenging situation.”
The formation of the grand jury panel in January came a day after Justice Department officials traveled to Uvalde to release a scathing report on the failures of law enforcement to respond to the massacre.
Arredondo shouldered much of the blame from the public in the aftermath of the shooting after Texas Department of Public Safety officials said he assumed command of the scene and made the decision not to breach the classroom containing the gunman.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers descended on Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.
But an investigation from a Texas House Investigative Committee determined law enforcement waited well over an hour before entering the classroom and engaging the shooter in a gun fight, killing him.
Arredondo’s indictment states that he failed to enforce the school district’s active shooter response plan, “thereby delaying the response by law enforcement officers to an active shooter who was hunting and shooting” children inside a classroom.
Uvalde County’s District Attorney did not respond to multiple requests from KSAT seeking comment Thursday.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.