Pete Arredondo, the former police chief of the Uvalde school district, was arrested on Thursday, over two years after the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting.
Arredondo was taken to Uvalde County Jail on 10 counts of child endangerment. He was released after posting a $10,000 bond, according to Sheriff Ruben Nolasco.
A grand jury indicted Arredondo and another officer involved in the Uvalde shooting, reported the San Antonio Express-News.
Jesse Rizo, the uncle of one of the victims, Jackie Cazares, said, “I knew this day would come, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take.”
The school district said it just learned about the indictments and has no additional information. They extended their sympathies to those who lost loved ones and to everyone affected.
The indictments come over two years after a teenage gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary. Law enforcement waited over an hour to confront and kill the gunman, which was widely criticized. Arredondo was fired three months after the shooting.
Rizo sees Arredondo’s arrest as a positive step and hopes for more indictments. He criticized Arredondo for not acting sooner during the shooting and expressed disappointment that more officers weren’t charged.
In January, the Justice Department released a report criticizing the police response to the shooting, citing many failures by Arredondo and others.
In May, the families of the victims reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde, which will be paid to the families of the children killed and two children who survived.