The Uvalde schools police chief has quit his city council seat amid criticism over his response to the elementary school mass shooting

The head of the Uvalde, Texas, school police force quit his City Council seat amid criticism over his response to a mass shooting at the Robb elementary school.

This latest news has been confirmed in a resignation letter the city government released on Saturday.

Pete Arredondo was elected to Uvalde’s City Council a few weeks before the May 24 shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, plunging the small town into grief.

Arredondo said in the letter he was stepping down “to minimize further distractions” in Uvalde. His resignation plans were first reported by the Uvalde Leader-News.

The individual’s resignation comes after he was placed on ‘administrative leave’ last month.

His resignation comes amid criticism over his response to the school massacre.

At a state senate hearing last month, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety blasted Arredondo for his decisions that day.

Officers waited for more than an hour before a U.S. Border Patrol tactical team entered the room and shot dead the 18-year-old suspect.

A state official said last month that police wasted time searching for a key to the classroom door, which was not locked.

Arredondo has said he never considered himself incident commander and that he did not order police to hold back on breaching the building.

Report by Zachary Goelman.