UVALDE, Texas — At least 19 children and two teachers were killed Tuesday when a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The suspected shooter, who might have had a handgun and a rifle, was also killed when law enforcement confronted him at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, about 83 miles west of San Antonio, Gov. Greg Abbott said at a news conference.
“It is believed that he abandoned his vehicle, then entered into the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde with a handgun, and he may have also had a rifle,” Abbott said.
“He shot and killed, horrifically and incomprehensibly, 14 students and killed a teacher,” the governor said before additional deaths were confirmed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said later that 19 children and two teachers were killed, in addition to the suspected shooter.
Multiple survivors — the exact number was not released — were being treated at regional hospitals.
It was yet another mass shooting targeting children and educators at an American school campus.
Tuesday’s attack recalls the deadly shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018; and Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas, later in 2018.
It might have particular resonance for those shaken by the Dec. 14, 2012, attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when a 20-year-old man killed 20 children and six adults.
Suspect acted alone, shot grandmother, authorities say Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the suspect shot his grandmother, who was hospitalized in critical condition, before he drove toward the school.
After he apparently crashed nearby, he went to the campus and opened fire, Olivarez said in a news conference at the scene.
“He started shooting every single person that was in front of him,” the lieutenant said.
The Texas Department of Public safety said the shooter was wearing body armor and carried a rifle.
The attack was reported as a mass casualty incident shortly after 11:30 a.m., authorities said.
The suspected shooter was identified as Salvador Rolando Ramos, 18, multiple senior law enforcement sources said.
“The investigation is leading to tell us the suspect did act alone during this heinous crime,” Pete Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, said at a news conference.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat, said the shooter purchased two semiautomatic rifles on his 18th birthday at an Uvalde-area gun store. It was not clear whether either of those weapons was used in the attack.
FBI agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel were assisting local law enforcement with the investigation into the suspect’s motives and background, authorities said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to assist.
Teacher identified among victims; families still wait for answers
Meanwhile, families of the deceased were being notified, the governor said.
Eva Mireles, a 17-year educator who taught fourth grade, was among the victims, her aunt said.
“I’m furious that these shootings continue. These children are innocent. Rifles should not be easily available to all,” her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado, told KSAT-TV of San Antonio.
Two fourth graders were also among those killed, relatives confirmed to news outlets.
Uziyah Garcia would have turned 10 this summer, his aunt, Nikki Cross, told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. Xavier Lopez, 10, had been at an awards ceremony with his mother hours earlier, according to KSAT.
Amid the chaos, parents were searching for children they had not heard from. One mother, Maria Garcia, was near the school questioning a law enforcement officer early in the afternoon because she was still looking for her 10-year-old daughter.
Her voice quivered as she tried to get answers to her string of questions, suggesting maybe her daughter was hiding in fields nearby.
Rosa Arizmendia and Roland Arizmendia’s daughter was safe, they said, because they had picked her up early after an awards ceremony at the school. But they did not know where their niece was.
Source: NBCnews
