- Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell announced the decision in a statement released on Wednesday
- Arredondo has come under fire in the weeks after the May 24 shooting over his response to the active gunman
- The district police said that Arredondo would be replaced, and that it would look for ‘qualified candidates’ to join for the upcoming school year
Uvalde School District Police chief Peter Arredondo was put on administrative leave, effective immediately.
Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District superintendent Dr. Hal Harrell announced the decision in a statement released on Wednesday.
Harrell said though he intended to wait until the investigation into the May 24 shooting was completed to make personnel decisions, a ‘lack of clarity’ or timeline coming from the agencies involved he decided to put Arredondo on leave.
Harrell did not specify why he had chosen to put Arredondo on Leave, but the decision came as the police chief’s questionable decisions during the mass-shooting saw renewed scrutiny during a Texas State Senate hearing into the shooting held this week.
He said that Arredondo would be replaced by Lieutenant Mike Hernandez, and that the school district would look for ‘qualified candidates’ to join the police force for the upcoming school year.
‘From the beginning of this horrible event, I shared that the district would wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions,’ Harrell wrote in the statement, ‘Today, I am still without details of the investigation being conducted by various agencies.’
‘Because of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results of the investigation, I have made the decision to place Chief Arredondo on administrative leave effective this on date.’
Harrell added that no more information would be provided about the decision, characterizing it as a ‘personal matter.’