Two Uvalde officials facing increased scrutiny in school shooting response: CNN

Texas investigators who are reviewing the police response to the deadly school shooting in Uvalde in May are increasingly scrutinizing the actions of two former officials, CNN reported Thursday. 

Law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation told CNN that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is troubled by the actions of former Uvalde school district police Chief Pete Arredondo and former Uvalde Police Lt. Mariano Pargas at Robb Elementary School. 

Officials reportedly made this determination based on hours of police body camera footage and interviews with hundreds of law enforcement personnel and witnesses. 

The public safety department’s investigation into the situation is almost finished and should be provided to the county district attorney in the coming days, DPS Director Steven McCraw told CNN. The district attorney will decide if any law enforcement officers will face charges related to their actions. 

The police department for the school district received intense criticism in the aftermath of the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. Police arrived at the school shortly after the shooting began and gathered outside two adjoining rooms where the gunman was firing, but they waited more than an hour before confronting him. 

Arredondo, who was the commanding officer on site, was fired from his position as police chief in August for law enforcement’s slow response. 

Arredondo has said that he did not believe he was in charge while the shooting was happening. 

Pargas, who was the acting chief of the Uvalde police at the time of the shooting, announced he would step down and retire from his post last month following scrutiny over his and the department’s actions. CNN has reported that Pargas was aware students were still alive and needed help in the school but did not organize help. 

Pargas, who serves as a county commissioner, reportedly told a reporter at a commission meeting that “All I can say is a lot of the stuff that’s been put out there, that is not the way it happened,” but he would not provide more specifics.