slip and turn
Agreed they have made some odd, and contridicory statements. From experience I'm afraid, it happens. The reason being some witnesses say one thing, others say another. The information is usually gleemed at first, by the force press dept from the computer logs used for by the comunications rooms, which isn't always clear in the early stages of an incident.
The officers on scene have a higher priority than the press in the first few hours. It's never a suprise that the intial information reported by the press, is therefore not the case.