Uvalde county commissioner who was acting police chief during school shooting retires from force

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Some of the murals that have gone up in Uvalde in memory of children who were killed at the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.

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Lt. Mariano Pargas, who was acting Uvalde police chief during the Robb Elementary School massacre last May, retired from the police department on Thursday.

In a statement to TPR, a public relations executive representing the City of Uvalde explained that “Lt. Pargas retired effectively immediately. He was eligible to retire. Pargas served the city of Uvalde for 18 years.”

New audio from CNN indicated Pargas knew students were alive in the classroom with the gunman and failed to act.

Uvalde City Council was expected to discuss Pargas’ possible termination as a police lieutenant during an executive session scheduled on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Pargas won re-election to commissioners court last week.

He was absent from a commissioners court meeting on Wednesday, during which several residents asked that he step down from that post too.

It was not immediately clear if Pargas planned to step down from the court.