CNN’s King and Prokupecz Decry Uvalde Police Presser: ‘Now We Have the Facts, And They’re Not Good’

A Friday press conference with Texas Department of Safety Director Steven McCraw left many viewers shocked, including members of the media who questioned the continually changing timeline and decisions made at the scene of the Uvalde elementary school shooting.

During the press conference, McCraw revealed that the on-scene commander at the school made the decision to delay entry into a barricaded room where the gunman was with students, some of them dialing 911 and begging for police help. According to McCraw, it was thought the situation had moved from an active shooter situation into one where the gunman was barricaded and no children were at risk. He admitted it was the wrong decision to make.

“Seven words that will forever haunt the community of Uvalde, Texas: of course it was the wrong decision,” CNN’s John King said immediately after the press conference, quoting McCraw. It is now known the shooter was not confronted for an extended period of time, with a Border Patrol tactical team even having their own breach delayed by almost an hour by local police, according to reports.

CNN reporter Shimon Prokupecz attended the press conference and pressed McCraw on whether there would need to be an independent investigation into the police department’s conduct. He also asked why the on-scene commander who made the call that the situation had “transitioned” from an active shooter situation, despite students in the classroom, was not there to answer any questions. McCraw would only say that Prokupecz was free to reach out by himself.

“That’s why I was asking, John, who was in charge of this? What was in charge of this operation? And he told us it was the chief of police of the school police here. That’s a very small police department. You’re talking about four police officers, a detective, a chief of police, and a security guard,” Prokupecz told King on Inside Politics after the briefing. He later noted the decision by the on-scene commander is “unexplainable.”

The reporter noted the explanations given out on Friday explain the “run around” officials had been giving previously in their accounts of the timeline of the shooting.

“It is very devastating. And now you know why the police were hesitating, and why they were sort of giving us the run around. Because now we have the facts and they’re not good,” Prokupecz said. “They’re not good for the police here. They’re not good for anyone in law enforcement. The decision to not go inside that classroom was a deadly decision.”

Watch the clip above, via CNN.