Embattled Uvalde School Police Chief Is Free to Be Sworn In to Council Seat, Mayor Says

The school police chief faulted for having officers stay back during a gunman's deadly siege at a campus in Uvalde, Texas, last week is free to take his elected seat on the City Council, the mayor said Monday.

Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, was said to be the incident commander who ordered officers to remain outside during the more-than-hourlong siege at Robb Elementary School last week.

Despite the ultimate presence of city, state and federal law enforcement officers who presumably could have pulled rank and assumed command, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw said it was Arredondo's decision alone to await more resources for what he believed was a barricaded suspect.