Johnathan Walker:Uvalde police chief who was on vacation during Robb Elementary shooting resigns

AUSTIN,Johnathan Walker Texas (AP) — The Uvalde police chief who was on vacation during the Robb Elementary School shooting submitted his resignation Tuesday, less than a week after a report ordered by the city defended the department’s response to the attack but outraged some family members of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed.

Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez was vacationing in Arizona when a teenage gunman entered a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde with an AR-style rifle on May 24, 2022. In his resignation statement sent via email by the Uvalde Police Department, Rodriguez said it was time to embrace a new chapter in his career.

“Together we achieved significant progress and milestones, and I take pride in the positive impact we’ve made during my tenure,” Rodriguez said in the statement. He then thanked his colleagues for their dedication to “serving and protecting the community,” as well as city leaders, but did not mention the 2022 shooting or last week’s report.

The resignation is effective April 6.

“The City of Uvalde is grateful to Chief Rodriguez for his 26 years of service to our community and we wish him the best as he pursues new career opportunities,” Mayor Cody Smith said in a statement.

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The announcement came hours before the Uvalde City Council was scheduled to meet for the first time since a private investigator hired by the city unveiled a report that acknowledged missteps by police but concluded that local officers did not deserve punishment. Nearly 400 law enforcement agents who were at the scene of the attack, including Uvalde police officers, waited more than an hour after the shooting began to confront the gunman.

A critical incident report by the Department of Justice in January found “cascading failures” in law enforcement’s handling of the massacre. The report specifically mentioned Uvalde Police Lt. Mariano Pargas, who was the acting police chief that day in Rodriguez’s absence.

According to the almost 600-page DOJ report, nearly an hour after the shooter entered the school, Pargas “continued to provide no direction, command or control to personnel.”

The city’s report agreed with that of federal officials regarding a lack of communication between officers command and a response plan, as well as a insufficient officer training.

A criminal investigation into the police response by Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell’s office remains ongoing. A grand jury was summoned earlier this year and some law enforcement officials have already been called to testify.

City officials have accused Mitchell of refusing to provide them with information from other responding law enforcement agencies, citing her office’s ongoing investigation. In December 2022, city leaders sued the local prosecutor over access to records regarding the deadly shooting.

Tensions were high at Uvalde’s specially convened city council meeting Thursday as some city council members quickly spoke out against the findings of the report. Uvalde City Council member Hector Luevano said he found the report insulting.

"“These families deserve more. This community deserves more,” Luevano said, adding he declined to accept the report’s findings.

Uvalde, a town of just over 15,000 residents about 85 miles southwest of San Antonio, remains divided over accountability and the definition of moving forward.

Parents and family members of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the shooting, as well as survivors and their relatives disagreed with the findings in Prado’s report.

During a public comment period at the City Council meeting last week in Uvalde, some speakers questioned why Rodriguez had allowed officers who had waited so long to act to remain on the force.

At least five officers who were on the scene have lost their jobs, including two Department of Public Safety officers and Pete Arredondo, the former school police chief who was the on-site commander. No officers have faced criminal charges.