Disgraced former Uvalde school police chief Pedro ‘Pete’ Arredondo has been pictured in an orange jumpsuit after his indictment over a school massacre that left 21 dead.
Arredondo, 64, appeared expressionless as he posed for his first police mugshot following charges for his botched response to the Robb Elementary massacre.
The former police chief faces ten counts of child endangerment, which is a state jail felony, according to records released today.
A total of 21 people – 19 fourth graders and two teachers – died when shooter Salvador Ramos, 18, opened fire on May 24, 2022.
The police force was slammed for its shambolic reaction to the massacre, after it emerged that nobody attempted to confront Ramos until 77 minutes after he began his rampage.
Former Uvalde school police chief Pedro ‘Pete’ Arredondo pictured in an orange jumpsuit after being indicted over their botched response to a school massacre on May 24, 2022
Arredondo (left) and school police officer Adrian Gonzales (right) have been charged with child endangerment over their slow response to shooting at Robb Elementary that left 21 deadÂ
Shooter Salvador Ramos, 18, (pictured) fatally shot 19 schoolchildren and two teachers before he was finally subdued and shot dead by police after a rampage that lasted over an hourÂ
Uvalde School District Police chief Arredondo was in charge of the massive law enforcement response that day, which saw at least 380 officers from various local, state and federal agencies descend on the school.
The indictment against him alleges he put children’s lives in danger by failing to respond as trained to an active shooter.
It identifies various fatal missteps, including failing to identify the threat as an active shooter even after he had been told that a teacher had been shot and children had been injured.
The document, released by Uvalde County District Clerk on Friday, says Arredondo instead took several actions, including calling a SWAT team and issuing evacuation orders, that delayed officers from confronting the gunman as he continued his killing spree.
The former police chief even failed to provide keys and breaching tools in a timely manner to allow officers to break into the classroom where the massacre was taking place, the indictment claims.
Arredondo has admitted he decided not to try and neutralize Ramos in a bid to save the lives of other children.
But the action contradicted his department’s active shooter protocols and essentially left students trapped in the classroom with the gunman.
Arredondo was immediately placed on administrative leave and fired shortly after.
A DOJ investigation found that leadership failures resulted in delays which may have exacerbated the fatalities.
The report said police acted with ‘no urgency’ in establishing a command center, creating confusion about who was in charge.
Arredondo discarded his radios on arrival, deeming them unnecessary, the report found.
A key error was believing the shooter was barricaded or contained, even as he continued to fire shots which killed more children and injured an officer.
Salvador Ramos killed 19 kids and two teachers during the rampage on May 24, 2022
Footage showing Peter Arredondo directing armed officers inside the Uvalde elementary school
An investigation conducted for the city of Uvalde also revealed that officers wanted to storm the classroom as soon as bullet proof shields arrived, but they were overruled by their boss.
Ramos was eventually shot and killed by US Border Patrol Tactical Unit gunmen who bypassed other officers who had been in the hallway.
The criminal charges against the former police are the first in connection with what was the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.
Arredondo turned himself into Uvalde County Jail on Thursday and posted the $10,000 bond.
Adrian Gonzales, a school police officer, has also been charged over his response to the incident.
He and Arredondo were among the first cops on the scene.
His attorney, Nico LaHood, told KSAT.com that he planned to surrender himself to the authorities.
Gonzales – who was one of the first officers at the scene – turned himself in on Friday, Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco told DailyMail.com. He has since posted bond.
He is facing 29 counts of abandoning and  endangering a child, according to his indictment.
La Hood added: ‘Mr. Gonzales’ position is he did not violate school district policy or state law. The application of this statute, to law enforcement, under these circumstances is unprecedented in the state of Texas. It will take time to evaluate these allegations and the underlying facts.’
Democrat State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, said in a statement: ‘What happened in Uvalde two years ago was unthinkable. Nearly 400 officers failed to confront a teenager with an AR-15 for 77 agonizing minutes, while children and teachers endured terror while officers armed to the teeth huddled in hallways and outside the building.
‘The gross incompetence of the Texas Department of Public Safety and their cowardice will forever be a stain on this tragedy. The top law enforcement agency in the State of Texas must answer for grave errors in judgment and for lying every single day to the public about how the massacre unfolded.
The police force was heavily criticized in the wake of the shooting, after it emerged that nobody attempted to confront Ramos until 77 minutes after he began his rampage
‘From falsely blaming a teacher for propping open a door to pinning the entire catastrophe on one ignorant officer, the Texas Department of Public Safety has done nothing in Uvalde but cover up for their abject failure.
‘We must get to the core of the cover-up and have the truth, so that this never happens again. Every single officer that stood down that day must be held accountable, from Pete Arredondo all the way up to [state police chief] Steve McCraw. We can’t rest until we have justice.’
Gutierrez has previously expressed outrage that Arredondo and Gonzales are the only police charged over the failures.
‘If they’re going to indict those two officers, they need to indict the 13 DPS troopers in that hallway,’ Gutierrez told San Antonio Express News. ‘That’s very disturbing to me.’
District Attorney Christina Mitchell revealed in January that she had convened a grand jury to weigh possible charges.
As part of the fact-finding mission, the 12 jurors toured the now closed school for around an hour.
The entire police force was overhauled in the wake of the massacre.
But Don McLaughlin Jr, who was mayor at the time of the shooting, suggested there has been a ‘gloss’ over the role of other agencies involved on the day.