NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
As the criticism of the police response to last week’s Texas school shooting deepens, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin now says that local law enforcement has not misled anyone and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s claims that he was lied to are “not true.”
Immediately following the shooting that left 19 children and two adults dead, a slew of Texas officials praised the law enforcement response to the tragedy.
“They showed amazing courage by running toward gunfire for the singular purpose of trying to save lives,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference in Uvalde alongside Lt. Gov. Patrick on Wednesday, about 24 hours after the shooting.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, center, speaks during a news conference about the elementary school shooting with Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, right and Texas District Attorney at 38th Judicial District, Christina Mitchell Busbee, Friday, May 27, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.
(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
That praise was quickly recounted later in the week as more details about the police response came to light, including that 19 officers were inside the elementary school for about an hour before a Border Patrol team breached the classroom and killed the suspect.
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING: LIVE UPDATES
Lt. Gov. Patrick told Fox News on Saturday that law enforcement’s choice not to immediately confront the shooter was a “bad decision, and that decision cost lives.”
“No one mentioned the fact that there was this 45 minute-to-an-hour hold by the chief of the police of the school district while there were still shots being fired,” Patrick said.
“I take this personally, and I know the governor takes it personally. And for me, it’s 140 or 150 people killed in Texas in the last six or seven years of collective anger when we’re not told the truth.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference in Uvalde, Texas Wednesday, May 25, 2022. The 18-year-old gunman who slaughtered 19…