HOUSTON, Texas (June 14, 2022) — Handwritten notes released to 13 Investigates on Monday reveal what Gov. Greg Abbott was told about the confusing police response after the May 24 mass shooting that killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Uvalde.
During a news conference after the shooting, Abbott initially told Texans officers went into Robb Elementary School to confront the gunman.
Bullet points in his notes that day say “ISD approached gunman + engaged” and “Border Patrol, ISD officers, Police, Sheriffs + DPS converged on classroom.”
In a news conference three days later – after the Texas Department of Public Safety corrected the timeline by saying officers waited more than an hour before entering the classroom – Abbott admitted he was livid.
“I was misled. I am livid about what happened,” Abbott said on May 27, according to a C-SPAN telecast of the news conference. “I was on this very stage two days ago and I was telling the public information that had been told to me in a room just a few yards behind where we’re located right now. I wrote down hand notes in detail about what everybody in that room told me in sequential order about what happened 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, whether it be law enforcement officials or non-law enforcement officials, whatever the case may be and as everybody has learned, the information that I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate and I’m absolutely livid about that.”
Under Texas law, 13 Investigates asked for the handwritten notes Abbott took himself and received them on Monday.
They do appear to back up Abbott’s initial presentation that officers went in and the suspect was already “contained.”
The notes also contain references that there was no forewarning, no mental health history and no criminal history for the suspect.
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Source: KTRK reported the original story.