Uvalde police chief accused of stonewalling investigation secretly sworn into city council

Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief who has come under fire for his decision-making during the shooting at Robb Elementary School, was secretly sworn in as a city council member on Tuesday, the day the first of 21 funerals of victims began.

No ceremony was held out of respect for the grieving families, as announced by Mayor Don McLaughlin on Monday, reports CNN. Arredondo had been elected last month.

But the mayor said city council members were invited to come to City Hall “at their convenience,” meaning Arredondo made his appearance in person to receive the oath and sign paperwork despite criticism he has been holed up in his house with around-the-clock police protection and had declined to participate with state investigators.

Arredondo, who was the on-scene commander at the shooting, had not spoken publicly about it since the day of. His assessment that the incident had “active shooter” situation to a “barricaded suspect” standoff and waiting for better equipment was criticized by state agencies.

Modern active shooter tactics say police should immediately engage a school shooter instead of waiting for back up save as many lives as possible.

“It was the wrong decision, period,” Col. Steven McGraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS), said Friday. He did not mention Arredondo by name.

Multiple reports emerged after McGraws statements that Uvalde police had withdrawn from the ongoing investigation into the response to the tragedy.

Arredondo insisted on Wednesday he has been in touch with TxDPS daily.

He also told CNN that he would not speak further on the shooting after “the families quit grieving.”