19 children, 3 adults dead after shooting at a Texas elementary school; Shooter dead
21 people, including 19 children and two adults were killed after a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed.
The shooter's grandmother, who was previously reported as dead, is in remains in critical condition but is alive, ABC News reports.
ABC News reports that the victims are believed to include students in third and fourth grade.
10-year-old Xavier Lopez, a 4th grade student, was identified by his family, as one of the deceased.
The family of 10-year-old shooting victim Xavier Lopez confirms to ABC News that he died in the shooting. He was in 4th grade.
According to his cousin, Xavier's mom was at his awards ceremony 1-2 hours prior to the shooting, not knowing it would be the last time she was seeing him.
Another one of the deceased was identified by her family as Eva Mireles, a 4th grade teacher.
"My niece, Eva Mireles, approximately 17 yr teacher for UCISD along with another teacher and 18 children lost her lives to a senseless tragic shooting. I'm furious that these shooting continue, these children are innocent, rifles should not be easily available to all. This is a my hometown a small community of less then 20,000. I never imagined this would happen to especially to loved ones. not all the facts have been released yet all we can do is pray hard for our country, state, schools and especially the families of all"
- Lydia Martinez Delgado
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the shooter was identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a resident of Uvalde.
The gunman, who was wearing body armor, crashed his car outside the school before going inside, Sgt. Erick Estrada of the Texas Department of Public Safety told CNN.
He killed his grandmother before heading to the school with two military-style rifles he had purchased on his birthday, according to state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who said he had been briefed by state police
“That was the first thing he did on his 18th birthday,” he said.
Officials did not immediately reveal a motive. Ramos had hinted on social media that an attack could be coming, Gutierrez said, noting that “he suggested the kids should watch out.”
A Border Patrol agent who was working nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school without waiting for backup and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade, according to a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it.
The agent was wounded but able to walk out of the school, the law enforcement source said.
University Health in San Antonio said it had two patients from the shooting incident -- a 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl -- both in critical condition.
The Children's Hospital of San Antonio said it has also received patients from the shooting.
"When parents drop their kids off at school, they have every expectation to know that they're going to be able to pick their child up when that school day ends. And there are families who are in mourning right now," Abbott said. "The state of Texas is in mourning with them for the reality that these parents are not going to be able to pick up their children."
The massacre at Robb Elementary School in the heavily Latino town of Uvalde was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, almost a decade ago.
“My heart is broken today,” said Hal Harrell, the school district superintendent, announcing that all school activities were cancelled until further notice. “We’re a small community and we’re going to need your prayers to get through this.”
President Joe Biden appeared ready for a fight and called for new gun restrictions in an address to the nation hours after the attack.
“As a nation we have to ask, when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what has to be done?” Biden asked. “Why are are willing to live with this carnage?
Robb Elementary School has an enrollment of just under 600 students, and Arredondo said it serves students in the second, third and fourth grade. He did not provide ages of the children who were shot. This was the school’s last week of classes before summer break.
