UVALDE, Texas — Handwritten notes from Gov. Greg Abbot on the Uvalde school shooting contain no mention of the quick police action he commended in a May 25 press conference, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
The Statesman obtained the notes, taken during a briefing with law enforcement, through the Texas Public Information Act. They include details on the shooter's background and then-current standing of the incident, but there are no specific times or references to pace of police action, according to the Statesman. At the May 25 conference, Abbott applauded police response in his opening remarks.
“They showed amazing courage by running toward gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives,” Abbott said at the conference. “And it is a fact that because of their quick response, getting on the scene, being able to respond to the gunman and eliminate the gunman, they were able to save lives."
The Statesman reported that aside from that comment, Abbott closely followed his notes during the press conference.
The governor later said he repeated what law enforcement officers told him, the Statesman reported, and that he was "misled" and "livid."
“I wrote down hand notes in detail about what everybody in that room told me in sequential order about what happened," the Statesman reported Abbott said two days after the conference. "And 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."
Since the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, law enforcement has received criticism for their actions. Texas Department of Public Safety officials reported officers waited over an hour to enter the classroom where the shooter was located – a move DPS director Steve McCraw condemned.
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