The police chief of the Uvalde, Texas school district, a newly-elected member of the city council, will have his swearing-in to the council postponed due to the funerals of children killed in one of the district’s schools last week, the mayor announced, according to CNN.
Pete Arredondo was elected to the city council earlier in May, and he was scheduled to be sworn in to the position Tuesday, along with other new city officials. “Our focus on Tuesday is on our families who lost loved ones,” Mayor Don McLaughlin said in a Monday statement.
Arrendondo reportedly took control of the Robb Elementary School police response after a gunman entered the school. After delaying police response for more than an hour–during which many the gunman shot many more people, ultimately murdering 19 students and two teachers–Arrendondo was ignored by a Border Patrol strike team who stormed the school and ultimately killed the shooter.