Off-duty Border Patrol agent rushed into Uvalde school with borrowed gun, says police stood outside in 'gear'

Jacob Albarado, the off-duty Border Patrol agent who rushed into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to save his wife and daughter, joined NBC’s “Today" show on Tuesday to recount his harrowing experience. Albarado told host Savannah Guthrie that he believes police were "doing the best they could given the circumstances," but details he inadvertently revealed during the interview have raised new questions about the Uvalde police response.

Albarado explained that he was getting a haircut when he received a text message from his wife, Trisha, who is a fourth-grade teacher at the elementary school.

“There’s an active shooter. Help. I love you,” the text said, according to Albarado.

Albarado described how he borrowed his barber’s shotgun and rushed to the school to save his wife and 8-year-old daughter, Jayda. As he made his way into the school, he saw police officers in "their gear" gathered outside.

"Did you ever see those officers that were poised outside the door?" asked Guthrie. "Obviously, there's a lot of scrutiny now with [the police] actions and whether they should have gone in," she added.

"At one point, I was there at the door fixing to go in, but once again, I didn't have any of my gear," Albarado answered. "It wouldn't have been a smart move for me. All those guys had their gear and stuff. [...] My wife texted me, called me, that she was okay .... so I went on to find my daughter in her wing."

After finding and getting his daughter out safely, Albarado went on to evacuate the rest of the classrooms in that wing while two officers provided cover, according to the New York Times.

“Even more questions after this morning['s] interview on the Today show with the CBP agent who was off duty and went to rescue his daughter and wife at Robb Elementary. He said he was near the door where [the] gunman was while searching for his daughter. Saw officers with their ‘gear’ on," CNN correspondent Simon Prokupecz said in a tweet.

Abarado, who is currently "out of work" due to an unrelated surgery he had just two days after the shooting, has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help cover his family's expenses. He says his wife will not be teaching this summer "because she is too traumatized from the events that occurred on May 24th" and that his family will need "time and plenty of counseling" but promises to keep "pushing forward one day at a time."