Texas GOP Senator argues 'second guessing' police after Uvalde shooting is 'distracting, unfair'

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) (L) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) visit in the tunnel that connects the U.S. Capitol to the Senate Office Buildings on September 30, 2021 in Washington, DC.

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• Sen. John Cornyn tweeted that "second-guessing" police in the wake of the Uvalde shooting is "unfair."
• Law enforcement officials changed their stories about what happened during the shooting at least 12 times.
• 19 elementary school students and 2 teachers were killed as police delayed intervening for over an hour. 

Despite law enforcement changing their story about what occurred during this week's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, at least a dozen times, GOP Sen. John Cornyn tweeted on Saturday that "second-guessing" the police response to the incident is "unfair."

"The second guessing and finger pointing among state and local law enforcement is destructive, distracting, and unfair," Cornyn's tweet about the shooting read.

Cornyn's comments were added to an earlier post from Texas Rep. Tony Gonzalez that indicated the Uvalde police department had interrupted a 2018 plot by two teenage boys to commit a shooting at Uvalde High School. The teenagers were arrested before a shooting occurred. 

"Complex scenarios require split second decisions," Cornyn's tweet added. "Easy to criticize with 20-20 hindsight."

An 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in a Robb Elementary School classroom on Tuesday, killing 19 students, two teachers and wounding 17 others. Officers at the scene reportedly failed to engage the shooter and delayed entering the school while the gunman was actively shooting.

Law enforcement officials have repeatedly changed their stories about the police response during the shooting — first claiming an officer confronted the shooter, then that the gunman was not confronted, and eventually that officers were told to stand down. 

In a subsequent tweet, Sen. Cornyn acknowledged that the officers' stories had changed, replying to a reporter's question about how to handle officer misjudgment, saying:  "Steve, the story has changed multiple times already, as you know. My only point we need a thorough investigation and to nail down facts before reaching a conclusion. Accountability should follow."

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