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Under pressure after the Uvalde school shooting: Greg Abbott, Governor of the US state of Texas
Photo: MARCO BELLO / REUTERS
After new insights into the course of the police operation during the devastating school massacre, the governor of the US state of Texas is under pressure.
"I was misled," Greg Abbott said at a news conference in the small town of Uvalde.
He had passed on to the public the information that had been described to him after the bloodbath in elementary school.
"Some of the information I was given turned out to be inaccurate and I am absolutely furious about it."
The responsible security authority had admitted serious errors in the operation.
For example, it became known that 19 police officers had been stationed in the hallway in front of the classroom where the shooter and the children had holed up at an early stage.
After more than 45 minutes, they made no attempts to enter the room and stop the shooter.
The 18-year-old killed 19 children and two teachers in the classroom on Tuesday.
Abbott caused a stir on Wednesday by saying things could have been a lot worse.
"The reason it wasn't worse is because law enforcement did what they did," he said roughly.
At the press conference on Friday, Abbott initially did not address the issue at all and talked about financial aid for victims.
He was then urged by the press present to comment.
Abbott initially said he would only answer questions about financial support for now, and later other "unrelated" questions.
Initially, however, only questions were asked about the mistakes made during the police operation.
ktz/dpa
