Hours passed before Abbott called Texas’ top law enforcement officer

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw spoke three times spanning about 30 total minutes on the day of the Uvalde mass shooting, according to call records.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat who represents Uvalde, released the records on Monday, in what he said was a call for “truth.” 

The release of the records comes one day before the November midterm election where both Abbott and Gutierrez are on the ballot for their respective races. Abbott, a Republican, has also been airing attack ads against Gutierrez calling him “too extreme for Texas.”

Even so, Gutierrez insisted it was not a political move to release documents he received 60 days ago. Instead, he said the release of the documents proved that Abbott lacked the leadership on what has become the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

“The fact is that (Abbott) has done absolutely nothing,” Gutierrez said. “I gave this investigation the benefit of the doubt. I held on to this information not so I could drop it as an October surprise or a November surprise, but we were told they were going to do something for this community and time and time again they have done absolutely nothing.” 

While the incident first began around 11:33 a.m., Abbott and McCraw first spoke on the phone at 4:05 p.m. for seven minutes. They spoke again at 5:15 p.m. for six minutes and finally at 8:41 p.m. they spoke for 18 minutes.

In the time between, it was first reported by the Dallas Morning News that Abbott spent hours at a campaign fundraiser in Huntsville where he likely raised at least $50,000 for his re-election efforts. Abbott previously said he arrived at the campaign event only to notify them that he could not stay. It was later found that Abbott spent nearly three hours at the campaign event.

Gutierrez added that he had given the call logs to reporters when he first received them, but was told they did not believe it was newsworthy.

“I have been trying to seek the truth for months on end,” Gutierrez said. “We want people that are going to act in government office. He did not act. It is about actions and not about words.”

Abbott did not respond to a request for comment on the latest accusations, but Abbott’s Campaign Chairwoman Renae Eze previously said he communicated with several people regarding the incident as the day progressed including having phone calls with President Joe Biden, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, law enforcement and staff.

Gutierrez’s press conference comes days after a Texas judge sealed the autopsies of the victims.

On Friday, Judge Camile Dubose of the 38th District Court ordered that the records not be released to the public, as previously assumed they would be, and instead sealed and handed over to the local district attorney, “for the purpose of assisting in the investigation and potential prosecution or prosecutions.”

First reported by CNN, it was argued in the motion that the information should remain sealed until the investigation into the tragedy is complete.

It took 77 minutes for nearly 400 law enforcement officials across federal, state and local agencies to breach the classroom door and kill the gunman.

A study is also currently underway to determine whether the slow response by police cost as many as four lives – three students and a teacher. The panel is tasked with determining whether those individuals would have survived had law enforcement responded more quickly.

So far, one DPS officer has been fired in connection to the event with several others under investigation.

Separately, McCraw and Gutierrez found themselves in a legal dispute over the release of documents earlier this summer.

Gutierrez sued McCraw to have a series of records related to the May 24 tragedy released to him.

McCraw said he could only provide them to the state senator if he signed a nondisclosure agreement. McCraw said this was under the request of Uvalde District Attorney Christina Busbee who said keeping the documents sealed was critical to her investigation into the actions of responding law enforcement.

Gutierrez, who has been vocal in criticizing the lack of transparency surrounding the tragedy, has since signed the NDA, but said the call logs were not subject to the agreement.

“It is abundantly clear that the lack of urgency they used in that hallway is evidence of a failure to lead because we see the same lack of urgency in these calls,” Gutierrez said. “I’m here to try to solve the problems for the people of Uvalde. It would be nice, for a moment, if (Abbott) would engage in that process, rather than abrogate his responsibility.”