Former Uvalde school police chief and officer indicted over response to shooting that killed 21

AUSTIN, Texas — Former Uvalde school police Chief Pete Arredondo and former officer Adrian Gonzales were indicted for their roles in the response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in 2022, reports say.

The Uvalde Leader-News and the San Antonio Express-News reported, according to The Associated Press, that Arredondo and Gonzales were indicted by a grand jury. The indictment included multiple counts of felony child endangerment and abandonment.

Arredondo is expected to surrender sometime on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said, according to Reuters.

District Attorney Christina Mitchell confirmed to the Uvalde Leader-News that the indictments existed, the AP reported. The indictments were not made available yet from the Uvalde County District Court clerk’s office, according to CNN.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that two additional former officers were also involved in the indictment. According to the AP, they have not been identified.

The U.S. Justice Department released a report earlier this year that found that law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting at the elementary school had the chance to reevaluate their response, CNN reported.

It took about 77 minutes from when the shooter made his way into the school until he was stopped, according to CNN. AP reported that 376 law enforcement officers were at the school waiting in the hallway as the gunman was heard shooting his rifle.

The shooting on May 24, 2022, left 19 students and two teachers dead. More than 400 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting. Surveillance footage showed officers in a school hallway minutes after the gunman arrived, although they did not confront the shooter for more than an hour.

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