The Uvalde, Tex., police chief, who was not present the day a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, announced his resignation Tuesday morning, five days after an investigator hired by the city defended police officers’ response to the shooting in a report that drew fury from many of the victims’ families.

Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez, who was away on vacation during the 2022 shooting, said he will step down April 6, after 26 years on the force.

“Together, we have achieved significant progress and milestones, and I take pride in the positive impact we’ve made during my tenure,” he said in a statement, thanking city leaders. “I want to express my deepest appreciation to all of my colleagues and team members for their unwavering support, professionalism, and dedication to our shared mission of serving and protecting the community.”

He did not mention the 2022 shooting, nor the report regarding his department’s actions.

Uvalde Mayor Cody Smith said assistant chief of police Homer Delgado will serve as interim chief.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our community, and we look forward to working together to identify the best candidate to serve the people of Uvalde,” Smith said in an emailed statement.

Community members and victims’ families criticized Rodriguez’s resignation at the Uvalde City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon, saying his exit lacked accountability for a police chief who, while not in town the day of the shooting, remains responsible for his officers’ actions. Rodriguez was expected to attend the meeting, but he did not.

Smith said the city had not had enough time to take action with the report, so it would not take action on it Tuesday, but some community members demanded the city reject it.

Tuesday’s meeting was the council’s first regular session since the report was delivered. The city council convened a special meeting Thursday to hear investigator Jesse Prado’s 182-page report, which the city paid nearly $100,000 for, the Texas Tribune reported.

Prado’s report concluded that there was no indication of wrongdoing by any of the officers at the scene May 24, 2022, and that all responding officers should be exonerated. The report characterized all of the officers’ actions as good-faith attempts to respond to the deadly attack. Instead, the report highlighted a lack of proper resources that enabled officers to respond adequately. “Specifically, statements by officers concerned the absence of rifle rated ballistic shields, and breaching tools,” the report said.

The report is in sharp contrast to the Justice Department’s findings, released in January, which offered a scathing review of police officers’ actions and the deadly consequences. The Robb Elementary gunman was killed 77 minutes after officers arrived at the scene, and the federal report said “lives would have been saved” if officers had responded quickly. Instead, officers were “in limbo with a lack of urgency.” Numerous local law enforcement officers were criticized for what the Justice Department characterized as “cascading failures of leadership.”

No officers have been charged with any crime.

Families of the victims were outraged by Prado’s report. Many denounced the findings and pleaded for accountability. Some city council members were upset by the report as well.

“Mr. Prado’s investigative report was insulting and insensitive to the families, and I felt his comments were not representative of the council’s expectations,” city council member Hector Luevano told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “I believe Mr. Prado went beyond his scope of investigation by including his ‘exoneration’ comments of all officers involved.”

Community members also questioned why the police chief had allowed officers to remain on the force after their delayed response to the shooting.

That criticism grew louder Tuesday.

“What does [Rodriguez] do today? He doesn’t show up, just like his crew didn’t show up that day,” said Jesse Rizo, the uncle of Jackie Cazares, who died in the shooting. “Look at the resignation letter: Not once does he acknowledge anything about any of this.”

“No accountability, no responsibility, no healing,” Rizo said, adding that Rodriguez’s resignation was unacceptable. “Retract it and tell him he’s terminated. Do the right thing.”