Uvalde mayor accuses state of leaking records to make local police look bad

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin spoke during a City Council meeting on Tuesday. McLaughlin accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about their investigation into the Uvalde shooting last month to disparage local law enforcement. (Credit: Kylie Cooper/The Texas Tribune)

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin on Tuesday accused state authorities of selectively releasing information about last month’s school shooting to scapegoat local law enforcement and intentionally leaving out details about the state’s response to the massacre.

New details emerged this week about the timeline of the shooting based on surveillance video from the school’s hallways and a transcript of officers’ body cameras. The records show that officers might not have attempted to open the doors of the classrooms where the gunman had holed up with victims. During a state Senate committee held earlier Tuesday, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told lawmakers that law enforcement’s response to the Uvalde school shooting was an “abject failure.”