Shifting accounts of Texas shooting trouble officials
‘It was the wrong decison’ to wait,’ says public safety boss
UVALDE, Texas — Grieving parents and loved ones began making burial plans as demands for accountability escalated Saturday after officials acknowledged law enforcement officers improperly waited an excruciatingly long time before rushing the classroom where a gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers.
Rogelio M. Muñoz, a former city council member, said in an interview Saturday morning that what the community had learned so far about the police response is “very concerning.”
Texas authorities made clear Friday that many things went awry earlier in the week. Muñoz criticized the Texas Department of Public Safety for its shifting accounts of what occurred at the school Tuesday, but cautioned against making too many conclusions.
“The facts are still developing and it’s hard to assess blame or judgment … when we don’t know all the facts,” he said.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat representing Uvalde, said, “We’re all angry. Law enforcement’s angry,” in a CNN interview Saturday morning. He said he had spoken Saturday with Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw.
The latest official — and troubling — accounts of that day have come from McCraw. He confirmed that officers waited nearly an hour in a hallway outside the locked classroom where authorities say Salvador Ramos was shooting children and killing their teachers.
McCraw said local authorities incorrectly concluded that the gunman was no longer an active shooter and no more children were at risk. But children inside the room called 911 repeatedly, pleading for help, McCraw said.
“It was the wrong decision,” McCraw said at a news briefing. “Period.”