I'm 'livid', was 'misled': Texas Governor on events in Uvalde school shooting
May 28, 2022
Washington [US], May 28 : Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was "livid" about the incorrect information he received about law enforcement's response to the shooting at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
"Yes, I was misled," Abbott said during a press conference on Friday.
"I am livid about what happened. When I came out here on this stage and told the public what happened, it was a recitation of what people in that room told me, whether it be law enforcement officials or non-law enforcement officials, whatever the case may be, and as everybody has learned, that the information that I was given turned out in part to be inaccurate, and I'm absolutely livid about that."
Abbott said that law enforcement must 'get to the bottom of every fact, with absolute certainty.'
Texas Governor said it was 'inexcusable' that families may have suffered from inaccurate information, and ordered law enforcement to 'get down to every second what happened.
This strong statement by Abbott comes after Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw on Friday said the decision, made by the incident commander not to enter the Uvalde school in the wake of the shooting and wait for the tactical team, was wrong.
"The decision was made that this was a barricaded subject situation, there was time to retreat the kids and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breach the door and take on the subject at that point," McCraw said during a press conference.
"There were 19 officers there, in fact, there were plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done with one exception - the incident commander inside believed he needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point... Where I'm sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision, period."
McCraw explained that the on-scene commander considered the situation transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject and there were no more children at risk.
