Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo has lost his job after the school board voted unanimously to terminate his contract.
The decision comes just three months after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
CNN reported that on Wednesday the board’s meeting lasted close to an hour-and-a-half.
Arredondo reportedly did not attend the meeting.
His attorney claimed in a statement that the district was not following legal procedure in its decision to fire Arredondo and the police chief also expressed concerns about his safety.
The 17-page statement argues that “no blame should be placed on Chief Arredondo from this event. None of his decisions or actions demonstrate a failure to meet the accepted standards of conduct for law enforcement officers in similarly situated school districts in Texas.”
The statement continues, “Chief Arredondo will not participate in his own illegal and unconstitutional public lynching and respectfully requests the Board immediately reinstate him, with all backpay and benefits and close the complaint as unfounded.”
Additionally, the statement claims Arredondo “has been the victim of death threats made by individuals with the means to carry them out.”
Arredondo’s attorney suggested “the School District has not disclosed any effort on its part to ensure the safety of Chief Arredondo, his legal counsel, or any of the pubic [sic] in attendance under such tense circumstances.”
The attorney added, “Without such steps, Chief Arredondo does not believe the planned district meeting is safe and is certainly not going to appear without exercising his state rights to be armed, unless the School District discloses in writing its safety protocol to ensure Chief Arredondo’s life and the lives of
those in attendance, including both the Board, its Superintendent, and the media.”
The police chief’s termination was celebrated by users on Twitter.
One tweeted, “The Uvalde School Board fired Police Chief Pete Arredondo, finally. GOOD RIDDANCE.”
The Uvalde School Board fired Police Chief Pete Arredondo, finally.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) August 25, 2022
GOOD RIDDANCE.
Another criticized Arredondo, saying, “The nerve of this Pete Arredondo is mind boggling. His attorney trying to portray him as a victim, and calling his firing ‘a public lynching’. Just disgusting.”
The nerve of this Pete Arredondo is mind boggling. His attorney trying to portray him as a victim, and calling his firing "a public lynching". Just disgusting.
— Don Harris (@DonHarris4) August 24, 2022
Check out more tweets below:
https://twitter.com/AntonioArellano/status/1562629000765140993
BREAKING REPORT: Disgraced Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is FIRED IN UNANIMOUS BOARD VOTE after his officers STOOD BY while gunman slaughtered 19 students and two teachers…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) August 25, 2022
SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THE WEAKNESS AND ASSUMED COMMAND…
The firing of Pete Arredondo is something that NEEDS to happen.
— Senator Roland Gutierrez (@RolandForTexas) August 24, 2022
It is the first step towards accountability.
The next step is holding @TexasDPS Dir. McCraw, @GovAbbott, and others accountable for their lack of action and transparency in #Uvalde. pic.twitter.com/7oL7BC9skE
The termination comes a little more than a month after an investigative report found that “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making” on behalf of law enforcement and school officials failed to stop the shooting, as NPR reported.
