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, the Associated Press reports. Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez was in Arizona when a teen entered a fourth-grade classroom in Uvalde with an AR-style rifle on May 24, 2022. In his resignation letter, which did not mention one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, Rodriguez said it was time for 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 wrote. He also thanked colleagues and said Uvalde will “always hold a special place in my heart.”
Rodriguez did not attend a Uvalde City Council meeting hours later, angering some families who continued to press for the city to take action against officers who responded to the shooting. The meeting was the first 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, waited more than an hour after the shooting began to confront the gunman. Mayor Cody Smith said it was too soon to take any action on the report. Some family members criticized Rodriguez’s absence at the meeting. “What does Daniel do today? He doesn’t show up. Just like his crew didn’t show up that day,” said Jesse Rizo, whose niece Jacklyn Cazareswas among the victims.
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.