Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference Friday that he was “misled” on the timeline of the events of the Uvalde school shooting.
Driving the news: “The information that I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate, and I’m absolutely livid about that,” he said.
- The Texas governor said that he took down notes of what he was told by law enforcement and conveyed that information to the public.
Catch up quick: On Friday morning, Texas officials explained new information about the Uvalde shooting’s timeline, including some details that contradicted previous details that had been shared, Axios Jacob Knutson reports.
- Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, said Friday that the shooter entered the school through a door that been previously propped open by a teacher. Early reports said that a school security officer confronted the shooter before he entered the school, which McCaw said was false.
- McCaw said the on-scene commander considered the gunman to be barricaded and not in an active-shooter situation, delaying the police from entering.
- Police decided not to breach the classrooms where the gunman was as a result.
Abbott questioned those decisions from law enforcement at his press conference Friday. “Why did they not choose the strategy that would have been best to eliminate the killer and rescue the children?”
- Abbott said law enforcement will need to earn the trust of the community “by doing exactly what they’re supposed to do from this point on,” which includes accurately investigating and explaining what happened in the shooting that killed 19 children and two adults.
- Asked if he expected any laws to come out of the shooting, he said, “Absolutely yes.”
- “You can expect robust discussion and my hope is laws passed that I will sign addressing health care in this state,” said Abbott, who seemed resistant to the idea of measures aimed at background checks. “There are an array of health issues that relate to those who commit gun crimes.”
- “All options are on the table,” he added when pressed on whether he was considering calling a special session for the legislature.
Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez, expressing dismay over the shooting, interrupted the end of the press conference, telling Abbott “you have to do something.”
Abbott’s last press conference drew massive attention after Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke (D) interrupted Abbott’s speech, yelling, “You’re offering us nothing!”
- “You are doing nothing. You are offering up nothing. You said this was not predictable. This was totally predictable when you choose not to do anything,” O’Rourke yelled at the press conference.
- After O’Rourke was kicked out, Abbott continued, “There’s no words anybody shouting can come up here — and do anything — to heal those broken hearts.”
Source: axios.com