A spokesperson for the Texas DPS tells PEOPLE that Chief Pete Arredondo hasn’t returned their message following the May 24 massacre
The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) and Uvalde Police Department are being accused of not cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for investigations related to the shooting last week at Robb Elementary School.
Reports recently began swirling on social media, claiming the two groups were not cooperating with the DPS and citing law-enforcement sources.
But as a Texas DPS spokesperson tells PEOPLE, “Uvalde PD and Uvalde CISD are still cooperating.”
The spokesperson adds, “However, the chief of police for CISD has yet to respond to the Rangers’ request for a follow-up interview that was made a couple of days ago.”
The Uvalde CISD and Police Department have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment as of Wednesday morning.
Last Friday, Col. Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas DPS, told the news media in Uvalde that approximately 20 officers waited in a hallway for more than 45 minutes before engaging the shooter inside a locked classroom.
“From the benefit of hindsight where I’m sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision,” McCraw said of the delay in entering, where panicked students called 911.
He added, “It was a wrong decision. There’s no excuse for that. We believe there should have been an entry as soon as you can. When there’s an active shooter, the rules change.”
When authorities finally shot and killed the gunman, the carnage was staggering: 19 students and two teachers were dead, with more injured.
Pete Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde CISD, stopped at least 19 officers from breaking into the school as the gunman opened fire.
But not all officers agreed with Arredondo’s decision. One of the officers who was standing outside the school told PEOPLE last week that he and his colleagues discussed whether to go into the school anyway.
“There was almost a mutiny,” the officer said. “We were like, ‘There’s a f—ing gunman in the school, we hear gunshots, and we’re just going to stand here with our thumbs up our asses?’ We wanted to go in and save lives. It was the most frustrating situation of my entire career.”
“We felt like cowards,” the officer continued. “It felt cowardly to stand off and let this punk, this kid, this 18-year-old a–hole just go in and do whatever he wanted to do. There was a lot of arguing, a lot of cussing, a lot of people who were saying that we should just say f— it and go in, but then what? We needed to have a plan, and the commander didn’t have a plan.”
The school district in Uvalde has opened an official account with First State Bank of Uvalde to support Robb Elementary families affected by the tragedy. People can send checks through the mail (payable to the “Robb School Memorial Fund”) or donate money through Zelle to robbschoolmemorialfund@gmail.com. People can also donate by calling 830-356-2273.
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