SAN ANTONIO — Note: This article previously was headlined reporting that Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo was still set to join City Council, according to the mayor. That is not entirely accurate; the mayor's statement reads more specifically that nothing is currently preventing Arredondo from joining City Council following his election. The headline has been updated.
--
As he faces scrutiny for tactical choices made during last week's harrowing attack on Robb Elementary school – choices that Texas law enforcement leaders called "wrong" given the circumstances – Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo is slated to join Uvalde City Council following his election to the District 3 seat earlier this month.
Arredondo collected just under 70% of the vote in that May 7 election, defeating three opponents. He and two others were set to be sworn in during a special meeting Tuesday evening.
That meeting, however, has been postponed as the community continues to mourn the 19 children and two teachers killed by an 18-year-old gunman last week, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a statement. It's not yet known when it will be rescheduled.
Memorial and visitation services for the 21 victims began Monday.
"Our focus on Tuesday is on our families who lost loved ones," the mayor's statement reads. "We begin burying our children tomorrow, the innocent victims."
The statement also emphasizes that nothing "prohibits him (Arredondo) from taking the oath of office" in the wake of the shooting, adding his office is "currently not aware" of any investigation focusing on the district police chief.
That could change, however, after Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday said he expects a thorough investigation into "every act by every official" involved in the shooting response, saying he was "misled" about the timeline of events as they were first reported to him.
McLaughlin also requested that the Department of Justice conduct a critical incident review of law enforcement's response to the school on Tuesday, but the office in charge – the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS – does not hold an investigative role.
The mayor went on to push back against assertions from public officials that they didn't receive accurate accountings of the Tuesday shooting, specifically saying Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's claims that he wasn't told the truth "are not true."
Texas Rangers are currently leading the investigation of the shooting.