The chief of police in Uvalde, Texas announced his resignation Tuesday, several days after an independent report commissioned by the city cleared police officers of any wrongdoing in the delayed response to a May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
“After much contemplation and consideration, I believe it is time for me to embark on a new chapter in my career,” Chief Daniel Rodriguez said in a statement. “I have had the privilege of serving the City of Uvalde and its residents for the past 26 years, and it has been an honor to lead the dedicated men and women of our police department.”
Rodriguez’s statement did not mention the shooting or the report. He was on a scheduled vacation out of state during the massacre.
Rodriguez told the Uvalde Leader-News he was not “forced, asked or pressured” to step down. His resignation goes into effect April 6, at which point Assistant Chief of Police Homer Delgado will become the interim chief.
The report, which was released last week during a city council meeting, was commissioned after it was revealed Uvalde police waited 77 minutes for tactical equipment to arrive before shooting the gunman who was locked inside a classroom.
Jesse Prado, a former Austin police detective turned private investigator, cleared the city’s officers of wrongdoing, saying they acted in good faith and did not violate any department policies — contradicting a scathing 2024 Justice Department report that concluded common police protocol was not followed during the shooting and pointed to “cascading failures” by officers on the scene as well as the cowardice of waiting over an hour to confront the shooter.
Prado’s findings mirrored Rodriguez, who had also not taken any disciplinary action against officers in the department.
Several family members of the victims stormed out of the city council meeting as Prado gave his presentation.
“How do you go to bed at night and then wake up every day? Shame on you all,” said Kimberly Mata-Rubio, who lost her 10-year-old daughter in the shooting. “You call that good faith? They stood there for 77 minutes and waited after they got call after call that kids were still alive in there. All this is, it’s a pact. It’s a brothers’ pact.”
