Texas Ranger reinstated more than 2 years after Uvalde shooting, officials say

Originally Published: 05 AUG 24 19:07 ET

Updated: 05 AUG 24 19:12 ET

By Sydney Bishop and Sarah Dewberry, CNN

(CNN) — Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell has been reinstated to his position after being removed from duty amid inquiries into the botched response to the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, according to a letter from Col. Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Kindell was suspended in October 2022 and the department had moved to terminate him in January 2023.

“I have decided to alter my preliminary decision based upon a review of the completed Texas Ranger criminal investigation on the May 24, 2022 Robb Elementary School mass shooting, an internal review of the actions of Texas Department of Public Safety officers who responded to the attack, and subsequent to the review by the Uvalde Grand Jury,” McCraw wrote in the letter, dated August 2 and obtained by CNN on Monday.

McCraw’s letter notes that according to 38th Judicial District Attorney Christina Mitchell, “the Uvalde Grand Jury reviewed all law enforcement officers who responded to the attack on Robb Elementary School, and no action was taken on officers employed by the Texas Department of Public Safety.”Mitchell had requested Kindell’s reinstatement, McCraw added.

CNN has reached out to Kindell and the DPS for comment.

The massacre at Robb Elementary School left 19 children and two teachers dead, making it one of the deadliest shootings at a K-12 school in the United States. While victims lay wounded, it took the 376 law enforcement officers on scene 77 minutes to confront and kill the gunman from the time he entered the school through an unlocked door. More than 90 Texas DPS officers responded to the scene and were among the first to arrive.

During the shooting, Kindell told investigators his “actions at the scene and during the event were minimal,” sources close to the investigation previously told CNN.

Kindell told investigators he had no discussions about options to breach the classroom, as a person in his position would have been expected to do, the sources added.

He was seen speaking on the phonemultiple times on footage from surveillance cameras and body cameras. Kindell was also seen in one of the school’s hallways as gunfire emerged from one of the classrooms.

“He’s still shooting,” he could be heard telling someone on the phone.

Less than three minutes later, he walked towards the classrooms, apparently offering to negotiate with the gunman, asking, “Does anyone know this kid’s name? I’ll try to talk to him.”

The Texas Rangers are a special group within Texas DPS with higher standards for recruitment. Their storied history goes back to before Texas joined the United States and on the DPS website, former Ranger Captain Bob Crowder is quoted as saying, “A Ranger is an officer who is able to handle any given situation without definite instructions from his commanding officer or higher authority. This ability must be proven before a man becomes a Ranger.”

2 law enforcement officers have been indicted over failed response

Former Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales are the only law enforcement officers to be indicted on criminal charges so far.

Arredondo faces 10 counts of child endangerment and known criminal negligence while Gonzales faces 29 counts of abandoning and endangering a child, according to the indictments. Arredondo pleaded not guilty last week, CNN affiliate KSAT reported. Gonzales pleaded not guilty on July 25.

Arredondo was described as the de facto on-scene commander by the Justice Department in its scathing review of the incident. The former chief has said he never considered himself the incident commander, though he did issue orders to those in the hallway with him.

Arredondo is accused of failing to recognize the incident as an active shooting and for failing to take proper action to intervene, the indictment says, and these behaviors placed each child in “imminent danger of bodily injury, death, physical impairment and mental impairment.”

He had also tried to negotiate with the gunman, something McCraw admitted was the “wrong decision.” Arredondo was fired in August 2022 in a unanimous vote by the school board.

Gonzales, who left the school district in February 2023, “failed to engage, distract or delay the shooter, and failed to otherwise act in a way to impede the shooter until after the shooter entered rooms 111 and 112 of Robb Elementary School and shot at a child or children in Rooms 111 and 112,” the indictment stated.

Gonzales told investigators he was one of the first officers to arrive and entered the south hallway with Arredondo after hearing shots. He said he could not use his radio inside the building, so he left. While the gunman was unchallenged inside the school, Gonzales said he spent much of the time waiting with emergency medics outside the west door. He also found a set of keys and a plan of the school, he said, that had been requested by a Texas Ranger on scene.

Both Arredondo and Gonzales were released on a $10,000 bond, according to Uvalde County Jail records. Gonzales’ next hearing is scheduled for mid-September.

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