Uvalde Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez resigns, effective April 6
UVALDE – The city of Uvalde announced Tuesday afternoon that Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez has resigned, effective April 6.
"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," said Mayor Cody Smith.
Assistant Chief of Police Homer Delgado will be named interim chief of police, Smith said.
Rodriguez was the chief when the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School took place in May 2022, but was out of town that day. Lt. Mariano Pargas was running the department during the shooting. Pargas has since left the department.
Rodriguez's resignation comes a week after a new report cleared Uvalde police in the response to the school shooting.
Austin-based investigator and former police detective Jesse Prado made the report for the Uvalde City Council, saying the responding local officers acted in "good faith" on May 24, 2022, when 19 students and two teachers were killed. Law enforcement took over an hour to get inside the classroom and kill the gunman, even as children inside the classrooms called 911, begging police to rescue them.
The investigator who presented the report placed blame on families who rushed to the school that day for compromising the police response. Previous state and federal reports faulted the local police at every level.
The Uvalde City Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday night for the first time since Prado's report was released.
This story is developing.
