Former Uvalde school police chief Peter Arredondo told investigators he decided not to break into the classroom where a gunman was hiding with children because he wanted to save the lives of students in other classrooms.
In newly emerged footage from Arredondo’s interview with the Texas Department of Public Safety after the deadly shooting in May, the police officer said he thought “there will probably be some dead people,” and described his decision not to attack the shooter and instead focus on the Evacuation to focus the school.
The decision violated his department’s active gunnery protocols and essentially left students trapped in the classroom with gunman Salvator Ramos, 18, for dead. 21 people died in the massacre – 19 students and two teachers.
Arredondo was released by Uvalde Police shortly after the shooting and was blamed by authorities for the botched response to the shooting, which saw heavily armed police officers waiting outside the classroom where Ramos was hidden for more than an hour before they hired him.
Former Uvalde School Police Chief Peter Arredondo spoke to investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety less than 24 hours after the May shooting
Footage showing Peter Arredondo directing armed officers at Uvalde Primary School
In footage obtained by CNN, the disgraced police chief told investigators he made the decision not to hire Ramos when he saw other classrooms at the school were still full of children.
“When I realized this was going on, my first thought was that we must evacuate. We contained it – and I know that’s terrible and I know it is [what] Our training tells us to do it, but — we’ve contained it, there’ll probably be some deceased in there, but we don’t need any more from out here,” he told investigators in the footage.
The decision violated department protocol, which directs any armed officer at the scene of an active school shooter to be involved, regardless of the danger to themselves.
Arredondo was one of the first to arrive at the school after the shooting began and was armed with a handgun. He told investigators he wanted to wait until officers with guns were at the scene before attempting to attack Ramos.
Arredondo told the Texas Department of Public Safety how he decided to prioritize the lives of students in other classrooms
Arredondo told the DPS he believes there were casualties in the classroom with the shooter
Arredondo ordered heavily armed officers out of the classroom where the gunman was hiding
In footage of the day, Arredondo could be seen attempting to negotiate with the gunman through the classroom’s closed door, which CNN also said was against his training.
He told investigators that when he tried to speak to Ramos, he heard him reload his gun and said, “I’m sure I heard him reload.”
Arredondo also spoke about his fear of opening the classroom door, telling investigators, “I know I wouldn’t be able to reach that door. That’s my thought.’
It’s unclear if he meant he couldn’t do this because he thought he would be shot by Ramos or because he thought the door was locked. During the investigation, Arredondo often repeated that one of the reasons he didn’t try to break into the classroom was because he couldn’t find a key to the door.
A split view of the corridor before dozens of other police officers arrived shows the officers, guns drawn, standing behind shields yards from the classroom thirty minutes after the shooting began
Peter Arredondo, Chief of Police for the Consolidated Independent School District of Uvalde
Arredondo has long claimed he was not the incident commander during the shooting, although multiple authorities have confirmed he was in fact responsible for the crime scene after the fact.
In the DPS interview, Arredondo said when he saw armed officers, who he assumed were border patrol agents, arriving at the school, he thought they were organizing to breach the classroom.
“I let them know we’re getting those kids out first. We have to save the lives of everyone around him first,” he said.
However, these legions of armed officers awaited word from him to make their move. The scene descended into chaos as officers were left leaderless.
“We’re right in there, I didn’t know what was going on outside,” he told DPS.
Salvador Ramos, 18, barricaded himself in a classroom full of students. Arredondo told officers to wait over an hour before attacking the gunman
Salvador Ramos is shown entering the school with his AR-15-like weapon in hand at 11:33 am on May 24
Salvador Ramos, 18, (pictured) shot dead 19 students and two teachers while police held back over an hour during the Uvalde massacre on May 24
The interview was conducted less than 24 hours after filming.
It was the only interview Arredondo gave with the DPS, which stopped working with the department when its director blamed him for the botched response.
During the interview, Arredondo told DPS officers, whom he knew at the time of the shooting, that his decisions would be closely scrutinized.
“We’ll be under scrutiny, I expect that. We’re being investigated as to why we didn’t go in there,” he said.
Then he repeated his reasoning from that time.
‘I know what the firepower [the shooter] had, based on the shells I saw, the holes in the wall in the room next to his. I also know that I had students there who weren’t under immediate threat, other than those I knew were under immediate threat, and preserving life around him, everything around him, was a priority I think.” , he said.
“Because I know there are likely victims there, and from the shots I heard, I know someone is likely to die.”
During the interview, Arredondo was asked what advice he would give to the nearest police department dealing with a school shooting.
“Never minimize your training, never minimize your equipment, and never minimize your communications,” he said.
A minute-by-minute breakdown of how cops waited outside class while kids called 911 after the gunman went through the door held open by a teacher
11:28 am: The gunman collides with a truck and exits the car with AR-15s. He is seen by witnesses at a funeral home next to the school, who call 911 that they see a man with a gun walking toward the school
11:31 a.m.: The shooter is now hiding between vehicles in the school parking lot and is shooting at the building
11:32 a.m.: School resource officer arriving in squad car after hearing 911 call about truck accident drives past gunman
11:33 am: The shooter enters the school and starts shooting in room 111/room 112. He shoots more than 100 shots
11.35am: Three police officers enter the same open door as the suspect from Uvalde Police. They were later followed by four more, making a total of seven officers on site. Three first officers went straight to the door and got abrasions from him with the door closed. You hang back
11:37 a.m.: Another 16 shots fired by the shooter in the classroom
11:51 a.m.: Police sergeant and USB agents arrive
12:03 p.m.: The officers continue to arrive in the hallway. Up to 19 officers in this hallway at the time. At the same time, a girl from classroom 911 calls and whispers that she is in room 112
12:10 p.m .: The same girl calls back and says: “There are several deaths”
12:13 p.m.: Same girl calls again
12:16 p.m.: The same girl calls 911 for the fourth time in 13 minutes, asking for help
12:15 PM BORTAC (SWAT) members arrive with shields
12:16 p.m.: The same unidentified girl calls 911 and says Classroom 112 “lives with 8-9 students.”
12:19 p.m.: Another child from the classroom calls 911. She hangs up when another student tells her to be quiet
12:21 p.m.: Gunman fires again
12:26 p.m .: One of the girls who previously dialed 911 calls back. She says the shooter just ‘shot at the door’
12:43: This girl’s girl is still on the line. She says ‘please send the police now’
12:50 p.m.: Police finally break down the door with janitor’s keys, killing the gunman
12:51 pm The officers begin to move the children out of the room