BATON ROUGE - Robert McGarner, the retired BRPD deputy chief who was put in charge of security at the East Baton Rouge School System earlier this year, abruptly left the job this month. 

A spokesperson for the school system said that McGarner submitted his resignation letter on Oct. 14. The system did not immediately give a reason for his resignation.

McGarner was hired back in March to much fanfare, with the school system holding a press conference to publicly introduce him in the new role. 

"We believe he will be an asset to our team and a role model to our young people,” Superintendent Sito Narcisse said at the time.

The school system is reportedly still looking for McGarner's replacement weeks after his resignation.

McGarner, who retired from BRPD in 2020, previously served as one of Chief Murphy Paul's righthand officers. At the department, he was vocal at press conferences and — in 2018 — led efforts to reassign officers to better address a rash of homicides.  

He was also profiled by People magazine in 2016 after a tumultuous summer that saw the death of Alton Sterling at the hands of two Baton Rouge police officers, as well as an ambush that left multiple officers dead on Airline Highway.