Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw admitted error Friday in the law enforcement response to the Uvalde mass shooting.
A reporter asked why police didn’t immediately engage the shooter at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.
“From the benefit of hindsight from where I am sitting now, that of course it was not the right decision, it was a wrong decision, period, there was no excuse for that,” McCraw said.
McCraw explained that the on-scene commander at the time “believed it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject.”
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“A decision was made on the scene – I wasn’t there — that this was a barricaded subject situation, there was time to retrieve the keys and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breach the door and take on the subject,” he said. “At that point, that was the decision, that was the thought process.”
He addressed the issue multiple times during the presser.
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“I wasn’t there but I’m just telling you from what we know, that we believe there should have been an entry as soon as you can,” McCraw said.
“Obviously, based upon the information we have, there were children in that classroom that were at risk,” he added.
This exchange between the head of Texas DPS and CNN’s @ShimonPro is absolutely devastating. He says the onsite commanding police officer thought the crime scene had become a barricade situation and no longer an active shooter even though people in there were still alive and hurt. pic.twitter.com/qhRpbWZUyy
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 27, 2022
REPORTER: “Are they owed an apology from somebody, be it the incident commander in the police department here?”
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 27, 2022
Texas official: “If I thought it would help, I’d apologize.” pic.twitter.com/AUGXnxAgZw
REPORTER: “How many students died in those 48 minutes?”
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 27, 2022
Texas official: “I don’t have that answer. We’re looking at it right now.” pic.twitter.com/EvYktmfU4I
NOW – Texas official says “it was not the right decision” to delay sending in law enforcement into the school.pic.twitter.com/YUTKDIJBOm
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 27, 2022
“There was a barrage. Hundreds of rounds were pumped in in four minutes into those two classrooms” — reminder that the Uvalde shooter bought his AR-15s legally pic.twitter.com/5PavlEsXfU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 27, 2022
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