A little under three and a half minutes into his hour-long briefing on May 24, 2022 Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, pointedly: "...as horrible as what happened, it could have been worse."
He continued: "The reason it was not worse is because law enforcement officials...showed amazing courage by running toward gunfire...And it is a fact that because of their quick response...eliminating the gunman ...lives were saved."
He further elaborated, "...officers with the consolidated independent school district, they approached the gunman and engaged with the gunman, uh at that time."
During the same briefing DPS Director Steve McCraw corroborated Abbott's story about the brave resource officer: "...as the governor mentioned earlier there was a brave consolidated independent school district resource officer that approached him, engaged him, and at that time uh there was not, gunfire was not exchanged, but the subject was able to make it into, into the school, as the governor reported..."
A while later the story was further decorated by DPS spokesman, Lt. Chris Olivarez: "because of those heroic efforts and because of the encounter from that school resource officer that gunman dropped a bag, a backpack full of ammunition prior to going into that school before he barricaded himself inside that classroom. So, again, by putting a stop to that, a shooter by taking more ammunition inside that school prevented more casualty, more mass shootings that could have taken place. Which could have been a much worse situation"
It could have been worse.
A short while later Travis Considine, chief of communications with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said in an interview with The Washington Post that the gunman had encountered a school police officer and “they exchange gunfire.” The gunman, Considine said, “shoots the officer, wounds him, goes into the school.”
So, by the time the story is offered up by Considine, the heroic resource officer not only engaged the gunmen but was shot by the gunman. It is worth noting that Considine is a political operative having worked as Communications Director for Senator John Cornyn’s re-election campaign and reviously served as former Gov. Rick Perry’s press secretary and communications director for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.
The story of the heroic resource officer bravely confronting and getting shot by the gunman is not true. None of this occurred. Where did the story come from? According to DPS Director McCraw it was reported to him by Governor Abbott.
So, who told the Governor?