Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arredondo will not be sworn in as a member of the Uvalde City Council following the massacre at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two adults dead. Arredondo has been facing immense criticism for preventing officers from storming the building while the 18-year-old gunman was barricaded inside of a classroom.
Arredondo easily won the seat with over two-thirds of the vote and was scheduled to be sworn in during a special meeting on Tuesday (May 31) night. However, those plans are now on hold.
"Our focus on Tuesday is on our families who lost loved ones," Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a statement. "We begin burying our children tomorrow, the innocent victims of last week's murders at Robb Elementary School. The special City Council meeting will not take place as scheduled."
It is unclear when Arredondo will be sworn in. He has not indicated that he plans to step down from his newly elected position.
"Pete Arredondo was duly elected to the City Council," McLaughlin continued. "There is nothing in the City Charter, Election Code, or Texas Constitution that prohibits him from taking the oath of office. To our knowledge, we are currently not aware of any investigation of Mr. Arredondo."
The Justice Department said it has launched an investigation into the police response to the mass shooting.