Washington, United States
Former Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who oversaw the response to a 2022 elementary school shooting in the US state of Texas has been charged and arrested over the response, US media reported citing an official at the Uvalde jail. The shooting left 21 people dead, including 19 children.
Media reported that the 52-year-old was taken in by law enforcement officers on Thursday (Jun 27), He has reportedly been charged with 10 counts of abandoning/endangering a child.
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Sheriff Ruben Nolasco confirmed to ABC News that Arredondo was released from custody after being booked into the Uvalde County jail Thursday night.
Alongside Arredondo, former school police officer Adrian Gonzales was also named in the grand jury indictments, CNN reported.
NBC News said that Arredondo's bail was set a $10,000 surety bond and nine $10,000 personal recognizance bonds. He posted bail and was later released the same day.
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In Uvalde school, which turned out to be America's deadliest school shooting in a decade, 19 young children and two teachers were killed on May 24, 2022 when a teenage gunman went on a rampage with an AR-15 style assault rifle at the school.
Uvalde police have come under heavy criticism ever since reports emerged that more than a dozen police officers stood outside the classrooms where the shooting was occurring for more than an hour while doing nothing as children inside lay dead or critically injured.
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A Texas state lawmakers' report said in July 2022 that a total of 376 officers - border guards, state police, city police, local sheriff departments and elite forces - responded to the massacre.
A US Justice Department report released earlier this year cited "critical failures" in the response.
(With inputs from agencies)