Thread by @sewellchan

TX authorities now acknowledging a devastating failure of judgment.

“Based on the information we have, there were children in that classroom at risk and it was an active-shooter situation, and not a barricaded subject."

"The incident commander inside believed they needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach." Meanwhile, there were 19 officers available to act.

TX DPS Director McCraw: "It was the wrong decision, very wrong. There's no excuse for that. … When there's an active shooter, the rules change. There is no longer a barricaded subject. You don't have time."

McCraw: “I don't have anything to say to the parents other than what had happened. … We're not here to defend what happened. We're here to report the facts.”

Reporter: Uvalde parents now know that not everything possible was done to save their children. Are parents owed an apology?

McCraw: “If I thought it would help, I'd apologize.”

McCraw: “But let me say this…when you go back to the timeline, there was a barrage—hundreds of rounds were pumped in four minutes into those classrooms. Any firing afterward was sporadic and it was at the door.”

Hence the assessment—wrong in hindsight—of a barricaded subject.

McCraw, director of TX DPS since 2009, came close to tears, his voice cracking. He came under criticism after death of Sandra Bland in 2015. The storm of controversy this time is at least as intense.

McGraw says the incident commander was the Uvalde Independent School District chief of police. That's Pete Arredondo.

It seems rare for blame in judgment to be placed on a single commander so soon after the incident. Massive investigation still underway.

FBI rep: 200 personnel onsite over four days. Agents working across the country. Victim specialists on site. “If the facts bear out that there's a federal nexus then the FBI will conduct an appropriate investigation at that time.”

McCraw, asked about Biden visit on Sunday: “Welcome here. Welcome to Texas. This community has been hit hard and I think it’s noble that the president is going to be here to recognize the pain and suffering that this community is going through. That’s what leadership is.”