Dumb of course. It's pretty clear in context of the larger convo that he was talking about monsters who murder innocents, but you still need to be crystal clear.
If he had made the exact same statement and then followed with an explicit qualifier clearly stating he's speaking of repeat offenders who end up murdering then this still would have gone viral. The last part would have just been edited out ala the fine people hoax.
Ten years ago I'd say that issuing the apology is absolutely the right thing to do.
Now...maybe not. You can't give these demons an inch. Even when you actually say something stupid.