WATCH: Uvalde School District Police Chief Televised Statements Just Hours After School Shooting

Uvalde School District Police Chief Pedro Arredondo is at the center of a remarkably ugly investigation, the essence of which gets at whether his incompetence or indecision cost the additional lives of fourth-graders at Robb Elementary.

Arredondo oversaw that handling of the school shooting last Tuesday and has become a key figure in the investigation. He has not appeared in public or released a statement since that day, but he made two brief statements to the press just hours after the tragic incident took place.

But given his role, his statements now appear different with the scrutiny of knowing how he handled the grave situation.

Since the horrific Tuesday afternoon when an 18-year-old assailant walked into a grade schoolroom and took the lives of 19 school children and two adult teachers, there have been serious questions about the police response.

On Thursday the public learned that Arredondo was in command of the situation and mistakenly considered it to no longer be an active shooter situation despite 911 calls coming in from children still in the classroom.

It is not known if those calls were relayed to the reported 19 cops assembled in the school hallway, treating the scenario as a barricaded assailant. Had Arredondo called for officers to enter the room at the time, a number of children may now still be alive.

People make mistakes at work all the time. Rarely do those mistakes become public, let alone a national conversation. Never before, it seems, has someone’s poor judgment appeared to have cost the lives of upwards of 10 or 11 fourth-grade children.

It’s impossible to imagine the mindset that Arredondo is currently in at the moment, and as crazy as it may seem, while a full investigation is needed, there is also a level of grace the police chief should receive as well even if calls for his resignation are entirely warranted.

The consequence of his decisions will weigh heavy on his mind for the rest of his life.

Watch above via CNN.