Families who lost loved ones in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, said Thursday’s arrest of former school district police Chief Pete Arredondo is 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 that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Another 17 people were injured.
The 10 charges relate to schoolchildren who survived the shooting but later received care and protection.
Arredondo, who was described as the incident commander during the shooting and was the focus of scathing criticism for mismanaging the police response, was later released after posting $10,000 bail.
Nearly 400 officers entered the school in the massacre — but it took more than 70 minutes before the shooter was confronted and killed, in what the Justice Department described as a “failure” of law enforcement response.
A second officer was also charged with multiple similar charges, according to a parent of one of the slain children, who asked not to be identified. However, that person has not been publicly identified by authorities.
Berlinda Arreola, whose 10-year-old granddaughter, Amerie Jo Garza, was among those killed, said Thursday that Arredondo’s arrest is not a “happy moment.”
“It’s still a sad moment. There’s nothing to be happy about,” she said. “We have to relive this nightmare knowing that they had the chance to save some of our loved ones — maybe all of them.”
She said Thursday’s news was a surprise.
“It’s something we’ve been looking forward to or waiting for for the past 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 more needs to be done, she said. Arreola said she expected more names to surface regarding police failures and wants to see more charges filed.
Jesse Rizo, the uncle of 9-year-old Jacklyn Cazares who died in the shooting, also called for more answers.
“My brother’s (Jacklyn’s father) thought is: why only two people? It is a very fair question: why have only two people been charged today? And we hope we get that answer soon,” he said.
He said the indictment was a good step and called it “a very emotional day for me.”
“I don’t think it’s enough,” he said. “It’s hard to swallow. You had children who’ve been through a lot, who’ve been through hell, who’ve breathed their last breath alone, the only comfort they had was each other and maybe even themselves.”
“So, when you see these charges and the maximum sentence is only a couple of years in prison, possibly,” he continued. “That’s hard to accept. It’s something, it’s more than what you had before. Hopefully there are other people who are charged and maybe charged a little bit more.”
Kimberly Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old Alexandria “Lexi” Aniyah Rubio, told NBC News on Friday: “I’m glad that action has been taken. But I don’t want it to be mistaken for justice. This is not justice. This is just the beginning, justice would be convictions.”
She said hearing the news reminded her of images of her daughter.
“It’s two charges out of so many possibilities. There were dozens of officers who got there early and knew there were kids in the classroom, knew there was an active shooter and they chose to do nothing. It’s not enough, it will never be enough,” she continued. “Some of these officers get a second chance and my daughter didn’t get a second chance.”
“I’m hopeful, I want to see convictions. I want them to get through the system. I want to see them in court. I want them to be convicted, I want them to spend some time in jail. Nothing else is okay for me,” Rubio said.
Brett Cross, the father of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia killed in the shooting, said he heard news of the charges on social media, and not through the district attorney’s office — a pattern noted in the other parents who spoke to NBC News about Arredondo’s arrest.
When he heard the news, he thought, “Finally.”
“Like everything, I think it’s just a step… It shouldn’t stop at these two,” he said. He called it two out of 376% justice — referring to the number of officers who responded.
For him, justice means bringing charges against the officers “who stood in the hallway, the ones who knew the information, the ones who knew there were children there and then did nothing.”
Speaking about yesterday’s charges, he said: “I think they should serve a year for every minute these children were there alone.”
When asked if there are concerns that Arredondo and any others who may have been charged might not be convicted — such as 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, criminal negligence and perjury at trial.
“Absolutely. Especially if this happens in and around Uvalde, because the community at large doesn’t care anymore and they say we need to move on,” Cross said. “So I wouldn’t be surprised, I don’t have high expectations for anything anymore, because life can change in a matter of seconds.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
