(UVALDE, Texas) — Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo was sworn in as a city council member Tuesday night.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said members were sworn in per the city’s charter.
“Out of respect for the families who buried their children today, and who are planning to bury their children in the next few days, no ceremony was held,” he said in a statement obtained by ABC News Austin affiliate KVUE-TV.
“Our parents deserve answers and I trust the Texas Department of Public Safety/Texas Rangers will leave no stone unturned,” McLaughlin continued. “Our emotions are raw, and hearts are broken, and words are sometimes exchanged because of those emotions.”
“I want Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to know that I misunderstood statements I thought he said. We both attended the same law enforcement briefing. We appreciate the concern Dan Patrick has for the citizens of Uvalde and local law enforcement,” the mayor added. “I ask everyone to pray for us, the citizens of Uvalde as we grieve, and live through the pain, and the healing process.”
The ceremony comes exactly one week since the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
The first funerals for two of the victims, both 10, took place on Tuesday.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News Tuesday that the Uvalde Police Department and the Uvalde Independent School District police force are no longer cooperating with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s investigation into the massacre and the state’s review of the law enforcement response.
The Uvalde police chief and a spokesperson for the Uvalde Independent School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News regarding their cooperation with the investigation.
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