When things couldn't get any tenser, former U.S. Rep. and Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke stormed into Uvalde on Wednesday and confronted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick about guns.
What ensued? Well, let's just say it was ugly.
"This is on you," O'Rourke told Abbott, seated on the stage at the SSGT Willie de Leon Civic Center in Uvalde. Patrick went on the attack.
"Sit down, you're an embarassment," Patrick said. Then things got really heated as O'Rourke persisted.
Off-camera, you can hear someone saying, "he needs to get his ass out of here, this isn't the place to talk this over."
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke interrupts a press conference held by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott following a shooting yesterday at Robb Elementary School which left 21 dead including 19 children, on May 25, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. (Photo by Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images) |
O'Rourke said, "this is totally predictable."
Another person can be heard saying to O'Rourke, "you're a sick son of a bitch to make this a political issue."
CBS News initially attributed those remarks to Patrick, but it appeared to be someone else on the stage. U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn were also on the stage.
Law enforcement made a muted effort to escort O'Rourke from the auditorium, but he left on his own. There was plenty of yelling and screaming in the wake of O'Rourke's departure.
Earlier in the press conference, Abbott said the shooting was related to mental health.
"I asked the sheriff and others an open-ended question," Abbott said. "And got the same answer from the sheriff, as well as from the mayor of Uvalde; the question was what is the problem here? And they were straightforward and emphatic. They said we have a problem with mental health and illness in this community."
Abbott, however, provided greater clarity on the timeline of the shooting, with the suspect shooting his grandmother in the face. The shot didn't kill her, allowing her to call the police. The suspect fled his grandmother's home and eventually wrecked his pickup truck outside the school.
Abbott said the suspect posted on Facebook that he intended to shoot up a school.
Police immediately engaged the suspect, but he eluded them and killed 19 children and two teachers with an AR-15 .223 caliber rifle. All of the children were in the same classroom, where he barricaded himself. Eventually, a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed the suspect.
The shooting left 17 people injured, and the families of all of the victims were notified.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) prepares to donate blood at the South Texas Blood Bank's emergency blood drive on May 25, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. The South Texas Blood Bank held an emergency blood drive for victims of the Uvalde school shooting. According to reports, during the mass shooting, 19 students and 2 adults were killed, with the gunman fatally shot by law enforcement. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) |
