'We will circle back': Texas cop scoffs at reporter asking why officers took an hour to stop Uvalde shooter
Public aggravation with law enforcement's conflicting timeline of Tuesday's mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers and injured 17 others is mounting, and the latest press conference on how emergency teams responded to the assault only fueled further frustration.
The biggest mystery is why it took officers nearly an hour to neutralize the 18-year-old gunman, who police maintain barricaded himself in a classroom before he slaughtered nearly two dozen fourth-graders.
On Thursday, CNN's Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz asked the Texas Department of Public Safety's Victor Escalon to clarify why it took authorities so long to reach the suspect.
"You guys have said that he was barricaded. Can you explain to us how he was barricaded and why you guys could not breach that door?" Prokupecz asked.
"I have taken all of your questions into consideration. We will be doing updates. We will be answering those questions," Escalon replied.
"Can you answer that question now sir? Because we’ve been given a lot of bad information, so why don’t you clear all of this up now and explain to us how is that your officers were in there for an hour, yes, rescuing people, but yet no one was able to get inside that room?" Prokupecz pressed again.
"Shimon, we will circle back with you. we will answer all your questions. We wanna give you the 'why.' That's our job, so give us time. I'm taking all your questions. I'm taking them back to talk to the team," Escalon responded.
"Can you tell us how the door was barricaded?" Prokupecz followed up but to no avail.
"Thank you for being here. We'll talk soon," Escalon said.
Watch below via Acyn:
\u201c\u201cWe\u2019ve been given a lot of bad information so why don\u2019t you clear all of this up now and explain to us how your officers were in there for an hour but yet no one was able to get inside that room?\u201d\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1653591076
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