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Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that he was “deceived” about what happened in the Uvalde school massacre, which led him to initially share inaccurate information with the public.
“I’m lively about what happened,” Abbott told a news conference in Uvalde, the site of the shooting where a gunman killed 19 students and two adults on Tuesday. “The information they gave me was, in part, inaccurate, and I’m absolutely free about it.”
In his first press conference after the shooting, Abbott had praised how the police handled the shooting, applauding his “incredible courage”.
“It could have been worse. The reason it wasn’t worse is because law enforcement did what they did,” he said Wednesday.
But on Friday earlier it was learned that the police had made a crucial mistake, waiting to enter a classroom because they believed it was no longer an active shooter situation. Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Homeland Security, said it was the “wrong decision, period.”
Abbott said Friday that his initial remarks about law enforcement’s response to the shooting were a “recitation” of what he had just been told in a briefing.
Looking to the future, Abbott said he hoped law enforcement leaders would “get to the bottom of everything with absolute certainty.” He said the Texas Rangers and the FBI would investigate the response of law enforcement.
In addition to the slow response time of the police in the classroom, authorities had initially said that a school resources officer “stuck” the gunman outside. But McCraw also corrected that account Friday earlier, saying the school resources officer was not on campus when the shooter arrived and found him missing when he returned to school in response to a 911 call. to say he didn’t know why the school officer wasn’t on the scene at the time of the shooting.
Abbott’s appearance in Uvalde on Friday came when he skipped the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, where he made pre-recorded comments that were shown to the audience minutes before his press conference began. In the direction of the video, Abbott went on to make it clear that he does not see gun restrictions as the answer to the massacre.
“There are thousands of laws on books across the country that [limit firearms] that they have not prevented the madmen from committing evil deeds against innocent people and peaceful communities, “Abbott said.
He added that the shooter committed a crime “before he even pulled the trigger” by owning a gun at school. He then committed a capital murder by killing 21 people, Abbott said.
At the Uvalde press conference, Abbott continued to resist gun-focused policy proposals and did not compromise on the prospect of a special legislative session on armed violence. Roland Gutierrez, the Democratic state senator representing Uvalde, interrupted the press conference to advocate for a special session, emotionally pleading with Abbott.
“I ask you now to come back to us in three weeks,” Gutierrez said. “We have to do something, man.”
“Just call us,” Gutierrez repeated as he walked away.
On a possible special session, Abbott said, “all options are on the table.” He has given a similar response in the past when he was pressured for special sessions on various topics.
Erin Douglas contributed to the report.