- Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo fumbled with his radios before ditching them near a school fence, a new investigation into the Robb Elementary School shooting said.
- According to the report, Arredondo's radios were bothering him, so he chose to leave them behind.
- He had previously said he did not have his radios because he thought they would slow him down, thwarting communication with officers during the event.
The Uvalde school police chief who was on duty the day of the May 24 Robb Elementary School shooting fumbled with his radios before he gave up and dropped them near a school fence, a new report from an investigation into the shooting said.
According to an interim report released Sunday by the Texas House investigative committee on the shooting, Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo was in his office at Uvalde High School when he heard "shots fired" over his radio on May 24.
He then "rushed out" when he heard something about Robb Elementary and drove to the school with his radios in tow, the report said.
"He arrived with his radios, but as he exited his vehicle, he was fumbling with them and they bothered him, so he dropped them by the school fence knowing that Sgt. Coronado, the sergeant on patrol, was there and 'fully uniformed' with his radio," the report said.
The Uvalde school district placed Arredondo on administrative leave from the police department weeks after the shooting. He has been the center of criticism surrounding the shooting, in which an 18-year-old gunman fatally shot 19 students and two teachers. It took police over an hour to neutralize and kill the gunman.
Arredondo has previously said he did not have his radios with him inside the school and, therefore, could not communicate with other officers responding to the scene. He said he intentionally chose to leave the radios behind because he thought they would slow him down.
The investigation found that 376 officers responded to the shooting at Robb Elementary.
"They failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety," the report said.