TEXAS – The police chief of the Uvalde Police Department announced his resignation Monday, days after the findings of another independent investigation into the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May 2022 were released.
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Chief Daniel Rodriguez turned in his resignation letter Monday morning, a spokesperson confirmed to KSAT in San Antonio. They said he’ll stay on the job for a few more weeks.
Rodriguez has been on the job since 2018, but according to the Uvalde Leader-News, he was on vacation out-of-state when the massacre occurred at Robb Elementary in May of 2022.
The City of Uvalde released the following statement regarding the chief’s resignation:
“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. Assistant Chief of Police Homer Delgado will be named Interim Chief of Police, as the City Manager and I undertake the search for a full-time replacement in consultation with the City Council. Nothing is more important than the safety of our community, and we look forward to working together to identify the best candidate to serve the people of Uvalde.”
Last week, an independent report was released by the city to determine if any of the 28 Uvalde Police Department officers and three dispatchers violated department policy in their response to the shooter who killed 19 students and two teachers. Nearly 400 law enforcement agents, including Uvalde police, rushed to the school but waited more than an hour to confront the teenage gunman who was inside a fourth-grade classroom with an AR-style rifle.
The new report, which acknowledged missteps but ultimately defended the actions of local police, prompted outrage from several family members of the victims during a City Council presentation. One person in the audience screamed “Coward!” and some family members angrily walked out of the meeting.
Don McLaughlin, the former mayor of Uvalde, ordered the independent probe in the weeks following the shooting and said that although he had not read the entire 180-page report, he was surprised by some of its findings. He singled out the actions of former Uvalde Lt. Mariano Pargas, who was the city’s acting police chief at the time.
In January, a sweeping Justice Department report criticized six responding officers from Uvalde police, including Pargas, for not advancing down a school hallway to engage the shooter. Federal investigators also said in that report that Pargas “continued to provide no direction, command or control to personnel” for nearly an hour after the shooter entered the classroom.
Pargas, an 18-year UPD veteran, was acting chief on the day of the shooting because Chief Daniel Rodriguez was out of town on vacation. Phone and email messages left Friday with Pargas, who has since been elected as a Uvalde county commissioner, were not immediately returned.
In the nearly two years since the shooting, families have accused police of a leadership void during the 77 minutes that elapsed between the gunman’s arrival and police confronting him.
Others criticized for their actions during the shooting also remain in elected office.
A criminal investigation into the law enforcement response remains open and a grand jury was summoned earlier this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.