Families of Uvalde massacre victims say charges against former school police chief are not ‘enough’

Families who lost loved ones in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, said Thursday’s arrest of former school district police chief Pete Arredondo was not a “happy moment” and are calling for more charges.

Arredondo, 52, was arrested on an indictment charging him with 10 counts of child abandonment/endangerment in connection with the May 24, 2022, school shooting who killed 19 children and two teachers. 17 other people were injured.

These 10 charges relate to schoolchildren who survived the shooting but were slow to receive care and protection.

Arredondo, who was described as the incident commander during the shooting and who faced scathing criticism for his mishandling of the police response, was later released after posting $10,000 bail. $.

The massacre saw nearly 400 police officers descend on the school – but it took more than 70 minutes for the gunman to be confronted and killed, in what the Justice Department described as a “failure” of law enforcement response.

A second police officer was also charged with several similar charges, according to a parent of one of the slain children, who asked not to be identified. However, this individual has not been publicly identified by authorities.

Berlinda Arreola, whose 10-year-old granddaughter, Amerie Jo Garza, was among the victims, said Thursday that Arredondo’s arrest was not a “happy moment.”

“It’s always a sad moment. There’s nothing to celebrate,” she said. “We have to relive this nightmare knowing that they were lucky enough to save some of our loved ones – maybe all of them.”

She said Thursday’s news came as a surprise.

“It’s something we’ve been looking for or waiting for two years…and honestly, we were about to give up hope,” she said. “So we were really surprised that we finally got some accountability and justice.” »

But there is still much to do, she said. Arreola said she expects more names to be revealed about police failures and wants more indictments to be released.

Jesse Rizo, the uncle of 9-year-old Jacklyn Cazares who died in the shooting, also demanded more answers.

“My brother’s (Jacklyn’s father) thought: Why only two people? That’s a very valid question: Why only two individuals were charged today? And we hope to get that answer soon,” he said.

He said the charges were a good thing, calling it a “very emotional day for me.”

“I don’t think it’s enough,” he said. “It’s hard to swallow. You had kids who went through a lot, who went through hell, who took their last breath alone, the only comfort they had was each other and maybe even themselves.

“So, when we see these charges and the maximum sentence only carries a few years in prison, it’s possible,” he continued. “It’s difficult to accept. It’s something, it’s more than you had before. I hope more people are indicted and maybe charged with a little more. »

Kimberly Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old Alexandria “Lexi” Aniyah Rubio, told NBC News Friday: “I’m glad to see that action is being taken. But I don’t want this to be mistaken for justice. This is not justice. This is just the beginning, justice would be a conviction.”

She said hearing the news brought back images of her daughter.

“These are two possible indictments. Dozens of officers arrived early on the scene, knowing that children were in the classroom, that there was an active shooter, and they chose to do nothing. That’s not enough, it will never be enough,” she continued. “Some of these officers deserve a second chance, and my daughter didn’t get a second chance.”

“I’m hopeful, I want to see convictions. I want to see them go through the system. I want to see them in court. I want them convicted, I want them in jail for a period of time. Nothing else will do for me,” Rubio said.

Brett Cross, the father of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, who died in the shooting, said he learned of the charges on social media, not from the district attorney’s office — a trend seen among other parents who spoke to NBC News about Arredondo’s arrest.

When he heard the news, he said to himself, “Finally. »

“Like everything else, I feel like this is just a step … It shouldn’t be limited to these two,” he said. He called it “two out of 376 percent of justice,” referring to the number of officers who intervened.

For him, justice requires prosecutions against the police officers “who were in the corridor, those who knew the information, those who knew that there were children there and who did nothing”.

Speaking about yesterday’s indictments, he said: “I think they should get a year for every minute those kids were alone in there.”

When asked if there were concerns that Arredondo and others potentially charged might not be convicted — as was the case with the school resource officer in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who was found not guilty of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury at trial.

“Absolutely. Especially if it’s done in and around Uvalde, because the community as a whole doesn’t care and is telling us to move on,” Cross said. “So I wouldn’t be surprised, I wouldn’t I don’t have high expectations of anything because life can change in seconds.”