Uvalde, Texas police cooperating with state in school shooting probe, district PD chief not responding
Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief, has reportedly not responded to Texas Rangers in two days for a follow-up interview
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While the Uvalde, Texas police department and local school district police have cooperated with state Department of Public Safety investigators into the massacre that killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school and the law enforcement response, the chief of the school police has not responded to a request for a follow-up interview.
The Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District police force have been talking to authorities, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman said.
Local authorities have come under pressure since a Friday press conference in which Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the delayed police response to the mass shooting was "the wrong decision."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pete Arredondo, the Uvalde school district police chief, has not responded to Texas Rangers in two days for a follow-up interview from his initial statements following the shooting, a DPS spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
"The Uvalde Police Department and Uvalde CISD Police have been cooperating with investigators," the statement said. "The chief of the Uvalde CISD Police provided an initial interview but has not responded to a request for a followup interview with the Texas Rangers that was made two days ago."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw speaks during a press conference held outside Robb Elementary School on Friday, which he said nearly 20 officers stood in a hallway outside of the classrooms during the attack on a Texas elementary school for more than 45 minutes before agents used a master key to open a door and confront a gunman, authorities said Friday. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Arredondo reportedly made the decision to not immediately confront suspected shooter Salvador Ramos, 18, at Robb Elementary School during his rampage last week. Authorities waited in a school hallway for nearly 50 minutes before breaching a classroom door.
McCraw said that Arredondo thought the situation had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, and that they had time to wait for tactical equipment and keys to unlock the classroom's door.
The police response as well as the flow of inaccurate information by law enforcement in the days after have generated criticism from parents of the victims as well as officials who had praised authorities immediately afterward.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lt. Gov. Patrick told Fox News on Saturday that law enforcement's choice not to immediately confront the shooter was a "bad decision, and that decision cost lives."
He later corrected his statement on Twitter, saying the decision "may have cost lives."
"Talking back & forth with the host I didn’t realize it until later," he tweeted. "The investigation of that time period is still ongoing."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Over the Memorial Day weekend, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said local police did not mislead anyone.
Uvalde School Police Chief Pete Arredondo, third from left, stands during a news conference outside of the Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The local police and school district police have reportedly stopped cooperating with state investigators into the mass shooting and a review into the police response. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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"Local law enforcement has not made any public comments about the specifics of the investigation into the incident or [misled] anyone," McLaughlin said in an emailed statement to Fox News Digital on Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Statements by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick that he was ‘not told the truth’ are not true. All statements and comments made to date about the ongoing investigation are being handled by DPS/Texas Rangers."
On Tuesday, McLaughlin issued a statement saying he misunderstood Patrick's earlier remarks.
"We both attended the same law enforcement briefing. We appreciate the concern Dan Patrick has for the citizens of Uvalde and local law enforcement," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Paul Best and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.