The former chief of the school district police for Uvalde, Texas, was indicted over his actions during the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Pete Arredondo was arrested on Thursday and charged with 10 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child. His arrest is the culmination of two years of intense scrutiny toward the police response to the mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.
“Mr. Arredondo is currently in our custody,” Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco told the New York Times.
Two people briefed on the matter told the outlet that another police officer who worked under Arredondo was also indicted though not arrested as of Thursday evening.
Jesse Rizo, a recent school board member and uncle of one of the victims, praised the decision.
Arredondo has complained of death threats since the shooting. He was fired from his position in a unanimous school board vote three months after the tragedy. His attorney sent out a 17-page statement decrying his firing as an “illegal and unconstitutional public lynching.”
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The blame directed toward Arredondo was simply “a smoke screen attempt to ‘blame the Mexican,’” the statement read. “One could blame God. Why did God let this happen? Certainly, and without question, the only person responsible for this tragedy is the shooter himself.”
A Department of Justice investigation found that the police had committed “critical failures” in its response to the shooting.
