The White House on Tuesday clarified some of the details that had been publicly released by officials in the aftermath of the raid in Pakistan which killed Osama Bin Laden.
While initial stories indicated that Bin Laden had been in a shootout with U.S. Navy SEALS, the White House backed off of that this afternoon, saying instead that Bin Laden had "resisted" but did not have a weapon.
"Bin Laden's wife rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg, but not killed," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.
"Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed," Carney told reporters.
Initially it had been reported that one woman had been used as a human shield - possibly for Bin Laden - but the Obama Administration backed off in this new narrative about Bin Laden's final minutes.
"He was not armed is what I understand to be true," Carney said, after reading from a prepared statement.
"Resistance doesn't require a firearm," Carney noted, leaving reporters somewhat unclear as to what happened when U.S. commandos entered his room.
The final assault on Bin Laden came near the end of the U.S. raid, as special forces worked their way methodically through the compound, going up to the rooms occupied by the Al Qaeda leader.
The original description from Senior Administration Officials early on Monday morning depicted Bin Laden as fighting off U.S. forces, using the term "firefight" which indicated that the Al Qaeda leader was exchanging fire with the Americans in his compound.
"He did resist the assault force. And he was killed in a firefight," said one official in a briefing for reporters after President Obama's speech late on Sunday night.
"As the President said this evening, bin Laden was killed in a firefight as our operators came onto the compound," said another official on the same conference call with reporters.
President Obama's words though were not that direct in his speech, as he described the U.S. raid.
"After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," the President said.
As for the possible release of photographs of a dead Bin Laden, Carney said the White House had not made up its mind, as he was counseling caution and patience for reporters late on Tuesday afternoon.
