Uvalde school shooting: Acting police chief Mariano Pargas Jr. resigns

UVALDE, Texas — The acting police chief in Uvalde, Texas, on the day that a gunman opened fire and killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in May has resigned, a city spokesperson said Thursday.

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Lt. Mariano Pargas Jr. was serving as chief when the mass shooting occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, WOAI-TV reported. Pargas and members of law enforcement in the city were aware there were children in danger at the school as they waited more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter, the television station reported.

City spokeswoman Gina Eisenberg confirmed that Pargas had left the force, The Associated Press reported.

Pargas had been suspended pending an investigation into his conduct, ABC News reported. He was offered a retirement package last week but city officials rescinded it amid media coverage surrounding his actions, the news outlet reported.

Pargas’ departure comes days after new audio released determined that the officer was told there were children alive in the classrooms at Robb Elementary 30 minutes before police breached the room, according to the AP.

The Uvalde City Council was set to consider firing him during a special meeting scheduled for Saturday, the news organization reported.

Relatives of some of the children killed in the shooting have demanded Pargas quit his role as a Uvalde county commissioner.

“He was made aware that people were injured and dying and yet he did nothing. A young girl called 911 in room 112 asking for help and he simply left her and other people to die,” Jesse Rizzo told Uvalde City commissioners, according to CNN.

Rizzo’s 9-year-old niece, Jackie Cazares, was among the victims. Rizzo addressed an empty chair since Pargas did not attend the meeting.

“You have brought shame to the community, you have brought shame to law enforcement, you have tarnished the badge,” Rizzo told the commissioners in attendance.

Pargas is the second police leader in Uvalde to leave law enforcement since the mass shooting.

Pete Arredondo, the school police chief in Uvalde, was fired in August.

Arredondo was one of the first officers to respond to reports of the shooting, although he failed to take the lead during the law enforcement response, according to a report issued last month by a Texas House committee. The committee noted in its report that there were no “villains” found during its investigation, attributing issues with the response instead to “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making.”

Surveillance footage from the scene showed officers in a hallway of the school minutes after the gunman arrived, although they did not confront the shooter for more than an hour. Several investigations into the law enforcement response remain ongoing.

The report by the Texas House committee stated that Arredondo did not consider himself to be the on-scene commander in charge and that his priority was to protect the children in other classrooms. The report said his decision was a “terrible, tragic mistake.”

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