AUSTIN, Texas — The search continues for a suspect investigators say shot and killed five people in San Jacinto County Friday night. The gunman is accused of killing his neighbors after they asked him to stop firing his gun so their baby could sleep. In the wake of the tragedy, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, blamed the shooting on the Biden administration's border policies. 

“As we saw again this weekend, the administration's policies victimize people who are attacked by dangerous individuals who never should have been in the United States in the first place,” Sen. Cornyn said. “How much pain and suffering will our country have to endure before the Biden administration takes this seriously?”

Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott's initial comments on the shooting sparked outrage nationwide after labeling the victims as "illegal immigrants." He's since expressed some regret, noting it appears at least one of them was not. Authorities say the victims were from Honduras, but they have not revealed their immigration status.

“We regret if the information was incorrect and detracted from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal,” said Renae Eze, a spokesperson for the governor. “The true focus remains on catching this heinous criminal who killed five innocent people, and bringing the full weight of Texas law against him.” 

This isn’t the first time the governor has had to walk back comments he made after a mass shooting.

“Over the time that he's been governor, he has gotten quicker on the draw and sometimes more careless in the way he describes events or characterizes people. And so, sometimes he gets in trouble as he did on Sunday evening,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. 

Jillson added that the governor was attempting to take the focus off the fact that there was yet another mass shooting in Texas.

“He just was trying to drain some of the energy out of what he thought was the coming gun debate by raising the issue of illegal immigration,” Jillson said. “His opponents, of course, made the argument then that he was saying the fact that these people have been killed is somehow mitigated by the fact that they were here in Texas illegally. I doubt that's what he was trying to say, but he led with his chin. And so his opponents launched a roundhouse right, and caught him. So he was forced to back up a little bit and say, ‘It's a tragedy no matter who was killed, but the fact of the matter is, most of these folks are illegal aliens.’ So I think he's still in some difficulty here with formulating a response that most people tend to accept as plausible and legitimate, because it's got to lead with empathy. It can't lead with ‘these aren't really our people.’”

Abbott’s initial response also drew criticism from state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio.

“I think it's despicable to go out and politicize a shooting like this. And try to suggest that this is because, you know, some immigrant went wild. Yeah, some immigrant went wild, for sure, killed some people,” Sen. Gutierrez said. “But the Republicans put the gun in his hands. We have no laws to prevent that person from having this weapon. None whatsoever.” 

The senator has been pushing for stricter gun legislation since the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde nearly a year ago, where 19 students and two teachers were killed. He and other Democrats feel nothing has changed since the massacres at a church in Sutherland Springs, a Walmart in El Paso and in Uvalde. One bill they’re pushing would close the gun show loophole, which allows anyone without identification to purchase weapons from unlicensed sellers.

“Let's be very clear that the chaos that is involved in this state has nothing to do with immigration and has everything to do with loose Republican gun laws that allow everybody to walk down Congress [Avenue] with an AR-15 if they so chose,” Sen. Gutierrez said. 

Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi flipped the issue onto the senator in a tweet, saying of the shooter, “The illegal alien was able to get a gun because policies @RolandForTexas supports allowed him in the country after he was deported multiple times.” 

Juan Sepúlveda, a political science professor at Trinity University, said Gov. Abbott might have been trying to fire up his base by labeling the Cleveland victims as "illegal immigrants." Rumors are swirling that Gov. Abbott will run for president, but he has not confirmed that himself.

“There are a lot of times when Gov. Abbott's name has not even been mentioned anymore as a possible candidate,” Sepúlveda said. “And so if there is any interest of that kind of presidential aspiration, the fact that you're not even being named anymore, it goes back to a little bit of that ‘any press is good press.’ And so if there's a part of the base that would think [bringing up illegal immigration] is a good thing… this is where there's going to be a small percentage of people who might accept that narrative, which could help him if he still is looking to do anything about going down that path.” 

Several bills have been filed to tighten gun laws, but they are unlikely to go anywhere this late in the legislative session. Republicans are also pushing bills to strengthen border security.

Follow Charlotte Scott on Facebook and Twitter.