UVALDE, Texas — While holding a press conference about state resources being provided for victims of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was interrupted by a Texas senator.
During the question-and-answer portion of the press conference, Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-District 19) stood up and called on Abbott to call a special session of the Texas Legislature to address the shooting.
"My colleagues are asking for a special session. You’re getting a letter tomorrow. We’ve asked for gun control changes. I’m asking you now to bring us back in three weeks," Gutierrez said.
The senator apologized for interrupting the press conference, saying it wasn't meant to be a political stunt on his behalf.
"I’ve been here for three days with all of these elected officials. This county judge has worked his a-- off. The mayor, the city council people, I don’t know how to express the loss of the families that I’ve talked to. And I know you feel it too. And we have to do something, man. Your own colleagues are telling me, calling me, and telling me an 18-year-old shouldn't have a gun. This is enough. Call us back, man," Gutierrez said.
He proceeded to walk out of the auditorium and the press conference continued.
In response to an earlier question regarding potentially calling a special session, Abbott said "all options are on the table."
"Secondly, most importantly, to your point, do we expect laws to come out of this devastating crime? The answer is absolutely yes," Abbott continued. "And there will be laws in multiple different subject areas. For example, I do fully expect to have every law that we passed in the aftermath of the Santa Fe shooting to be completely revisited."
He also said the legislature would work to pass laws making schools safer and addressing health care issues related to those who commit gun crimes.
The Texas Democratic Party released the following statement after Gutierrez's remarks:
“Not one more child. Not one more teacher. Not one more Texan. We’re proud of our Democratic Leaders for standing up to Greg Abbott’s lies every chance they get, and the Texas Democratic Party joins their call for a special session to ban automatic weapons and pass life-saving legislation to end gun violence in Texas.”
Texas Sen. Roland's disruption at Abbott's latest conference comes after Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke walked up to the same stage on May 25, demanding change and gun control rules.
O'Rourke told Abbott the school shooting was "preventable" and "this is on you."
That's when politicians and other leaders started shouting at O'Rourke and someone on stage called him a "sick son of a b----." The gubernatorial candidate was then escorted from the building by officers. Afterward, he addressed a media gaggle outside.
Nineteen children and two adults were killed Tuesday when an 18-year-old gunman entered the Uvalde elementary school and opened fire. Before that, he shot his grandmother at her home.
Friday, new details surrounding law enforcement's response to the shooting were released, which indicated officials made the "wrong decision" not to enter the classroom sooner than they did. In a press conference, Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw said the on-site commander first believed the gunman was barricaded in a classroom and that no children were at risk.
Nearly 20 officers were in the hallway for more than 45 minutes before Border Patrol agents used a key to open the classroom door allowing them to confront and kill the gunman.
At the May 27 conference, Abbott said he was "misled" about the events when he first spoke on Wednesday and was "livid" about what happened.
"As everybody has learned, the information I was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate and I’m absolutely livid about that," Abbott said.
He went on to say that he expects investigators "get to the bottom of every fact with absolute certainty."
"There are people who deserve answers the most. And those are the families whose lives have been destroyed," the governor said. "They need answers that are accurate and it is inexcusable that they have suffered from any inaccurate information whatsoever and it is imperative that the leaders of the investigations about exactly what happened get down to the very second of exactly what happened..."
Abbott this week has also dismissed stricter gun laws as a solution to the mass shooting.
Watch the full press conference here:
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