Carney: Bin Laden Wasn't Armed

USA Today reports:

Osama bin Laden was not armed when a U.S. Navy SEAL shot and killed him during the early Monday raid in Pakistan, a White House spokesman said today, contrary to previous accounts provided by Obama administration officials.

"He was not armed," spokesman Jay Carney said today while reading a revised narrative that corrects other errors from previous readouts of the operation that took the life of the world's most wanted terrorist.

The new account changes the initial claim, later withdrawn, that bin Laden had used a woman believed to be his wife as a "human shield" when confronted by U.S. forces.

The updated version says "a woman -- bin Laden's wife -- rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed."

"Bin Laden was then shot and killed," the narrative adds at that point. "He was not armed."

At a White House briefing yesterday, counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said that bin Laden "engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don't know."

Brennan also said bin Laden was "hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield."

Today, Carney said bin Laden "resisted" during the raid, adding that such resistance does not require a firearm.

Asked about the changes of details, Carney noted that officials have hastily gathered "a great deal of information" in the 48 hours since the operation took place. Carney said some information "came in piece by piece and is being reviewed and updated and elaborated on."