受害者的父母罗伯小学枪击案和其他社区成员要求陷入困境的学区警察局长Pete Arredondo在周一晚上德克萨斯州乌瓦尔迪学校董事会的一次情绪激动的会议上辞职。
在那次夺走19名学生和两名教师生命的袭击发生近一个月后,董事会召开了月度会议。
在枪击事件中丧生的学生Uziyah Garcia的叔叔布雷特·克罗斯(Brett Cross)说:“皮特还在工作,知道他无法做出拯救生命的决策,这太可怕了。”。“无罪不藏,无罪不改其故事,但无罪确实死于5月24日。”
数十名执法人员对5月24日的枪击事件做出了回应,其中有19人在走廊等了77分钟执法部门表示,在包含枪手的教室外,事件指挥官Arredondo错误地认为情况已经从活跃的枪手转变为设置了路障的主体。
“总有一天,你将不得不在沙子上画一条线,决定你是否要让你自己的人负责,”小耶稣·张承说,“皮特,阿雷东多先生,也是我的朋友。我肯定我们都和他相处得很好。总有一天,我们会决定是否让他们负责。我祈祷你做出正确的决定。”
Arredondo说:“没有一个负责救援的警察犹豫过,哪怕是片刻,冒着生命危险去救那些孩子。”告诉德克萨斯的论坛报6月9日。“我们对已有的信息做出了反应,并不得不适应我们面临的任何情况。我们的目标是拯救尽可能多的生命,在我们接近枪手并消除威胁之前,所有相关人员将学生从教室中救出拯救了500多名乌瓦尔迪的学生和教师。”
乌瓦尔迪学校董事会会议通常允许长达15分钟的公共评论,但董事会成员扩大了周一会议的时间表。
一些与会者手持“解雇皮特·阿雷东多”的标语,站在观众席的一侧。
16岁的Lyliana Garcia是与会者之一,她在袭击中失去了双亲。她的母亲是厄玛·加西亚,在枪击中丧生的一名教师,她的父亲是乔·加西亚死于心脏病两天后。
加西亚说:“我母亲被谋杀并从我们身边带走的可怕方式彻底粉碎了我们的心,但却让我父亲停下了脚步。”。"那天我妈妈没有回家应该没有任何理由。"
加西亚说,她现在正试图填补父母的空缺,这是她这个年龄的人不应该有的负担。
她说:“我们曾经充满欢乐和笑声的那张桌子现在很安静,有两个空座位。”
乌瓦尔迪学区官员没有回应ABC新闻关于Arredondo就业状况的多个问题。
Uvalde parents, community members call for chief's resignation at emotional school board meeting
The parents of victims of theRobb Elementary School shootingand other members of the community called for the resignation of embattled school district Police Chief Pete Arredondo at an emotional meeting of the Uvalde, Texas, school board Monday night.
The board's monthly meeting came nearly a month after the attack that took the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
"Having Pete still employed, knowing he is incapable of decision-making that saves lives is terrifying," said Brett Cross, the uncle of student Uziyah Garcia, who died in the shooting. "Innocence doesn't hide, innocence doesn't change its story, but innocence did die on May 24."
Scores of law enforcement officers responded to the shooting on May 24, with 19 of themwaiting 77 minutes in the hallwayoutside the classroom containing the gunman, after Arredondo, the incident commander, wrongly believed that the situation had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject, law enforcement has said.
"At one point or another you're going to have to draw a line in the sand to decide if you hold one of your own accountable," said Jesus Rizo Jr. "Pete, Mr. Arredondo, is also my friend. I'm sure we all got along with him. At one point or another, we're going to have to decide if we hold them accountable. And I pray that you make the right decision."
"Not a single responding officer ever hesitated, even for a moment, to put themselves at risk to save the children," Arredondotold The Texas Tribuneon June 9. "We responded to the information that we had and had to adjust to whatever we faced. Our objective was to save as many lives as we could, and the extraction of the students from the classrooms by all that were involved saved over 500 of our Uvalde students and teachers before we gained access to the shooter and eliminated the threat."
Uvalde school board meetings typically allow up to fifteen minutes total for public comment, but board members expanded the timetable for Monday's meeting.
A number of attendees held "Fire Pete Arredondo" signs as they stood at the side of the auditorium.
Among those at the meeting was Lyliana Garcia, 16, who lost both her parents as a result of the attack. Her mother was Irma Garcia, one of the teachers who died during the shooting, and her father was Joe Garcia, whodied of a heart attacktwo days later.
"The horrifying manner in which my mother was murdered and taken from us completely shattered our hearts, but made my dad's stop," Garcia said. "There shouldn't have been a reason my mom didn't come home that day."
Garcia said she's now trying to fill the shoes of both parents -- a burden no one her age should have.
"The table we once sat at with absolute joy and laughter is now quiet and has two empty seats," she said.
Uvalde School District officials have not responded to multiple questions from ABC News regarding Arredondo's employment status.