UVALDE, Texas (Fwrd Axis) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday said he was “livid” and claims being “misled” by the initial reports of the police response to the elementary school massacre in Uvalde.
Speaking at a press conference in Uvalde late Friday afternoon, Abbott rejected the idea that guns were the issue. He declined to entertain calls for increased gun control measures in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 children and two adults dead.
Greg Abbott’s remarks come just a day after authorities said the Texas gunman entered the school unobstructed. Earlier this week, Abbott and other officials said a school resource officer “engaged with” the gunman prior to entering the building.
“Investigators need to get to the very seconds of exactly what happened with 100 percent accuracy and explain it to the public and most importantly to the victims who have been devastated,” Abbott said.
There were also conflicting reports, leading authorities to admit to a string of failures on Friday in responding to the shooting. 47 minutes went by without police engaging the gunman and only did so at 12:50 p.m. when the classroom the gunman was shooting in was breached using keys from a janitor. U.S. Border Patrol took the opportunity to shoot and kill the 18-year-old gunman.
“There will be ongoing investigations that detail exactly who knew what when, who was in charge and what strategy (was used), why that particular strategy was employed, why were other strategies not employed,” he added said.
Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, who earlier this week called Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke a “son of a bitch”, said he was just as shocked as Abbott over the changing of stories from the police.
“I’ve been just as confused as you are because … I got the same information that the governor got,” McLaughlin said.
Abbott pointed to the Santa Fe shooting to make his point about background checks not working, saying the shooter “took the gun from his parents”. He also noted there was a background check done in the Texas church shooting in Sutherland Springs.
“Anyone who suggests, ‘Well, maybe we should focus on background checks instead of mental health,’ I suggest to you it is mistaken,” he said.
The governor also rejected claims about restricting who can buy high-powered weapons or raising the age limit to buy a gun, despite the fact the gunman being 18-years-old.
“Every since Texas has been a state, an 18-year-old has had the ability to buy a long gun, a rifle,” he said. “So for a century and a half, 18-year-olds could buy rifles and we didn’t have school shootings.”
