ABC: Decision to edit Michelle Obama interview 'solely for time'

After first lady Michelle Obama said in an unaired clip of a "Good Morning America" interview Tuesday that an automatic weapon was used in the fatal shooting of Hadiya Pendleton, ABC News defended its decision to edit out the detail.

Pendleton died a few weeks after she returned from President Obama's second inauguration where she performed with her school's band.

The first lady’s mention of an automatic weapon in the Chicago shooting is not supported by police reports, according to the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday.

ABC on Tuesday released a statement saying the network’s decision was made "solely for time."

"The full story was posted to our website in advance of the interview being broadcast," a network spokesperson said, according to the Tribune. "The edits made to Robin's interview with the first lady were made solely for time."

Police have not recovered the weapon used in last month’s shooting of 15-year-old Hadiya, according to the Tribune, but said the gunman probably did not use a semi-automatic or automatic weapon because no bullet casings were found at the scene of the crime. On Feb. 11, a Chicago police official said the only ballistics evidence recovered from the shooting scene was a “partial bullet."

In the version of the interview posted to ABC’s website, Obama is quoted as saying:

"She was standing out in a park with her friends in a neighborhood blocks away from where kids...grew up, where our house is. She had just taken a chemistry test. And she was caught in the line of fire because some kids had some automatic weapons they didn't need. I just don't want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first."

But in the clip that aired and is posted as a video online, the detail about "automatic weapons" is missing:

"She was standing out in a park with her friends in a neighborhood blocks away from where my kids grow — grew — up, where our house is. … And she was caught in the line of fire. ... I just don't want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first."

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