EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — One of the El Pasoans honored by President Trump for his heroism the day of the Walmart shooting wasn’t a hero and was instead a wanted criminal. That’s according to the Washington Examiner who cited El Paso Police spokesperson Sgt. Enrique Carrillo in a report Tuesday afternoon.
Christopher Grant was interviewed by CNN’s Chris Cuomo shortly after the Walmart shooting August 3. In the interview, Grant describes throwing bottles at the Walmart shooter in an effort to deter him.
“I started throwing random bottles at him,” Grant said during his interview with CNN. “I’m not a baseball player, so one went this way, one went that way.”
In the interview with Cuomo, Grant was reunited with off-duty CBP Officer Donna Sifford, who he praised with helping him after he was shot. Grant called Sifford his “guardian angel.”
According to the article in the Examiner, El Paso Police dispute Grant’s version of the events, saying “his statements were inconsistent with what was revealed on video.”
It is unclear what Grant was doing during the Walmart massacre, but police do not dispute that he was injured in the attack, which killed 22 El Pasoans and wounded two dozen others.
As KTSM reported, on Monday, President Trump honored Grant and four other El Pasoans for their response during the shooting. Grant wasn’t in attendance because, according to the Washington Examiner, he was temporarily detained by the Secret Service for being a ‘fugitive from justice.’
KTSM has not independently verified what charges Grant was wanted on. However, according to El Paso County court records, no criminal cases are pending against Grant in El Paso County.
Grant’s mother accepted his Medal of Valor on his behalf at the White House.