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The Uvalde mayor accused Texas state authorities of selectively releasing information from its investigation into the Robb Elementary School shooting and the subsequent police response, alleging officials only leak certain details that make local law enforcement look bad.
State officials have sought to absolve themselves from blame by scapegoating city police with selective disclosure, Mayor Don McLaughlin said, accusing authorities of leaking information to the press before briefing Uvalde officials. As a result, McLaughlin announced Tuesday his staff would begin releasing information as it becomes available to his office, reversing course from earlier protocol to refrain from disclosing details until the investigation was complete.
UVALDE OFFICER PASSED UP SHOT AT GUNMAN BEFORE SHOOTER ENTERED SCHOOL: REPORT
“[Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McGraw] has continued to, whether you want to call it, lie, leak … mislead or misstate information in order to distance his own troopers and rangers from the response,” McLaughlin told reporters Tuesday. “The gloves are off. If we know it, we will share it.”
His comments come as new details were released this week regarding the timeline of the police response, showing officers waited more than an hour before breaching the classroom where the gunman had barricaded himself.
Officers entered the school hallway at 11:52 a.m., 19 minutes after the shooter entered the joint classroom at 11:33 a.m., according to the timeline released by authorities. However, law enforcement did not force entry for another 58 minutes.
Eleven officers had initially entered the building within three minutes of the gunman breaching the school, according to the report. However, the chief of the school district police, Pete Arredondo, called for backup at 11:40 a.m. with a landline, instructing law enforcement to wait for more weapons, more officers, and keys to the classroom door before acting.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
But the investigation uncovered that the door was unlocked and that no officers even attempted to open it before the breach, McGraw said. The head of the Texas DPS denounced the slow response, arguing it reveals an “abject failure” of law enforcement to step in.
The timeline of events has been the subject of scrutiny for multiple investigations headed by state and federal agencies that have questioned what happened in the over 70 minutes that elapsed between when the gunman entered the classroom on May 24 and when he was killed by law enforcement, even as trapped fourth graders called for help. The shooting left 19 students and two teachers dead, with several more being injured.
