New Video Shows Uvalde School Chief Trying to Negotiate With Gunman

New York Times

3 days ago

In the more than three years since the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, a key question about the delayed police response has been why the incident commander tried to negotiate with the gunman rather than storm into the classroom where he was holed up with dozens of students.
The commander, Pete Arredondo, determined that the gunman was no longer an active shooter but a barricaded subject, a decision that will be central to Mr. Arredondo's trial scheduled for later this year. He has been charged with abandoning or endangering the children on his watch. Nineteen children and a teacher died in the attack at Robb Elementary School, and 17 other people were injured.
Several new videos released on Tuesday make it clear that Mr. Arredondo, who was the head of the Uvalde School District police force and the first senior police officer on the scene that day in 2022, tried for more than 30 minutes to negotiate with the gunman, who was still inside two connected classrooms with two teachers and 28 students, at least some of whom were still alive.
The video is part of a trove of law enforcement materials that were released on Tuesday, and provides one of the clearest views yet into Mr. Arredondo's actions in the moments after the shooting. It shows him making urgent pleas to the gunman to give himself up, even as the gunman continued to fire sporadically.
'Individual in room 111 and 112, this is Arredondo, can you please put your firearm down?' Mr. Arredondo is heard calling through the door at 11:59 a.m., about 30 minutes after the shooting had begun. He made similar requests in both English and Spanish, with the gunman making no response.
'We don't want anyone else hurt, sir,' he said and then, 'These are innocent children, sir.'
The new videos show officers from different agencies gathering and beginning to express frustration with how the operation was unfolding.
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