“From the beginning of this horrific event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making staffing decisions,” Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell said in a statement. a statement.
“Today, I still do not have details of the investigations carried out by various bodies. Due to the remaining lack of clarity and the unknown time when I will receive the results of the investigations, I have made the decision to place the Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective that date,” he said.
“He let us down,” Arreola said of Arredondo to board members. “Don’t make the same mistake he did and don’t fail us too. Go ahead and make it right…please, please, we’re begging you, get this man out of here.” our lives.”
Arreola spoke to CNN on Wednesday about the pain of losing 10-year-old Amerie, as well as the subsequent fallout, with preliminary details from inquests indicating more could have been done sooner.
“We have to speak on behalf of all these children, all these families. We have to put things right, we have to get to the bottom of everything that happened and find out the truth.”
“I just don’t understand how you can hear these kids crying and asking for help, but you’re scared to come in because your commander doesn’t want you to go,” he said.
The parents, including himself, “were right in front” of the school. “I was trying to get in, I was handcuffed,” he said, distraught that the police he confided in “didn’t rescue my daughter or any of the other children.”
Arredondo testified before a closed Texas House committee on Tuesday regarding the day of the shooting and has not commented publicly. CNN has reached out to Arredondo’s attorney for comment.
The mayor of Uvalde challenges the director of the DPS
While Arredondo has received the lion’s share of public criticism over the police’s handling of the crisis, the mayor of Uvalde was quick to point out on Tuesday that he thinks other law enforcement agencies Law enforcement must also be held accountable and provide updates to city officials.
In pointed remarks at the city council meeting, Mayor Don McLaughlin accused DPS Director Col. Steven McCraw of shirking responsibility for his department and noted that officers from at least eight DPS agencies Law enforcement were inside Robb Elementary during the shooting.
“Colonel McCraw has continued – whether you want to call him – to lie, divulge, mislead or twist information in order to steer his own soldiers and Rangers away from the response. At every briefing he omits the number of his own officers and Rangers who were there that day,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin also denounced leaks from unnamed sources which he said were aimed at shifting blame to the police response from certain agencies and more towards local law enforcement.
“Colonel McCraw has an agenda and it’s not about giving a full report on what happened and giving factual answers about what happened to this community,” the mayor said, adding that he was supposed to receive a daily briefing from the authorities since the following day. filming but none were provided.
CNN has contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety for comment.
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch, Matthew J. Friedman, Amanda Musa, Eric Levenson, Christina Maxouris, Rosalina Nieves, Andy Rose and Amy Simonson contributed to this report.
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