Never-Before-Seen Videos Show Ex-Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo Admitting He Prioritized Saving Certain Children's Lives Over Others
Jan. 11 2023, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Disturbing new footage was released from the investigation of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. In the recorded interview, former police chief Pete Arredondo admitted the failures of emergency services that horrific day, that included his acknowledgement that children were abandoned in their classroom with the armed suspect, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student of Robb, entered the building. Ramos proceeded to discharge an AR-15 style weapon, which he used to kill 19 students and their two teachers.
The footage, taken less than 24-hours after the school massacre, captured Arredondo admitting his failures as the lead authority on scene, which could have prevented senseless deaths.
Since the senseless massacre — which had sadly become a routine occurrence in the years since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting rocked the nation — controversy over the police response and failure to act for 77 crucial minutes has been largely debated.
Arredondo was at the center of the discussion as community members, parents and victim's families struggled to reconcile with the commands he gave — or rather lack thereof — during the high-stakes situation.
The ex-police chief gave an interview with the Texas Department of Public Safety on May 25, where he was captured on camera stating that he thought "there's probably going to be some deceased in there," when he recalled being inside the elementary school while the suspect was still alive, barricaded inside a classroom with students.
Inside Robb Elementary School
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The concerning footage managed to find a deeper, darker level of discomfort as Arredondo retold the event to Texas DPS interviewers.
"Once I realized that was going on, my first thought is that we need to vacate. We have him contained – and I know this is horrible and I know it's [what] our training tells us to do but – we have him contained," Arredondo could be heard saying on camera. "There's probably going to be some deceased in there, but we don't need any more from out here."
Additionally, Arredondo told investigations during the interview that he thought the classroom door was locked but did not try to open it. It was not until over an hour later that a key was located, upon which it was discovered that the classroom was never locked in the first place.
Arredondo openly acknowledge that under his leadership, officers on scene failed to enact training that learned specifically to handle the situation they were in. Protocol required any armed officer on scene of an active shooter to directly engage with the suspect — regardless of the threat to themselves.
Unfortunately, some of Arredondo's beliefs that day were confirmed to be true: students were deceased inside the classroom. After police waited 77 minutes to breach the classroom — which resulted in discharging fatal gunshots at the suspect — several injured students were transported to nearby hospitals.
Sadly, some of those students succumbed to their injuries — an outcome many critics felt could have been avoided had swift action been taken by responding officers.
Additionally, a female student inside the classroom with the active shooter called 911 for help while Arredondo was mere feet away, giving orders to do anything but stop the compounding tragedies.
Arredondo was let go from his position after pressure was applied due to national backlash and victim's families outspoken disapproval of his department.